


Sacrifice

by Jcapasso916



Series: Sacrifice [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-04 11:58:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 32,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5333282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jcapasso916/pseuds/Jcapasso916
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not really non-con, but could be construed as such. Gabriel takes Sam's place in the cage, but will Sam accept that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Adam isn't in the cage, and Cas didn't pull Sam's body out.

After checking the nearest newspaper Gabriel realized that he had come back to life with a six month gap. He had a bit to catch up on. For one, this certainly didn’t seem like a post-apocalyptic world. He had, of course, put trackers on the two lynchpins of the apocalypse. He could sense Dean, but not Sam. He wasn’t worried though. Sam was probably just in a warded location. He would pop in on Dean first. 

Once he could sense that Dean was alone Gabriel popped into the room, landing in his trademark stance, leaned casually against the wall, arms crossed loosely over his chest, and foot flat on the wall knee high. “Heya Deano. Long time no see. Where’s Samsquatch?”

Dean jumped and spun around. “Gabriel!? What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be dead!”

“Supposed to be is such a strong sentiment don’t you think?” Gabriel said lazily. 

“Dean? What’s going on?” Lisa asked coming into the room. “Who’s this?”

“Nothing Lis. He was just leaving,” Dean said quickly. 

“Now Deano. That’s not very polite. You’re not even going to introduce me to your beautiful companion?” Gabriel said charmingly with a subtle wink at Lisa. 

“Fine,” Dean ground out. “Lisa, Gabriel. Gabriel, Lisa.” He turned back to Gabriel and said, “Now leave.”

“Well that’s a mighty fine way to treat the guy who died for you,” Gabriel drawled rolling his eyes.

“Wait…” Lisa said confused.

“Yup. I died, came back, now I wanted to catch up with my two favorite muttonheads, but I can’t find the moose.”

“That’s because he’s gone,” Dean said heatedly. “Thanks to you and you stupid plan to end the apocalypse.”

“What are you talking about?” Gabriel said eyes narrowing. 

Dean wasn’t smart enough to notice the archangel getting angry and said, “He said yes to Lucifer and jumped in the cage.”

“He did WHAT!?” Gabriel yelled, his true voice coming through on the last word, not enough to cause serious damage, but enough to make both humans in the room wince and cover their ears. His eyes flashed with power and the lights in the room exploded showing the shadow of six huge wings on the wall behind Gabriel. 

Gabriel visibly struggled to reign in his power to find Dean looking at him pretending not to be as nervous as Gabriel could see that he was and Lisa looking at him in shock. “The archangel Gabriel?” Lisa asked in an awed voice. 

“Guilty,” Gabriel said sheepishly. “Sorry about that,” he said snapping his fingers and fixing everything he broke. Lisa was glad Ben was at a sleepover that night. 

“Yes, thanks for that Gabriel,” Dean said sarcastically. “So now that you are all caught up, leave.”

“Dean!” Lisa said scandalized, unable to comprehend talking to an angel like that. 

“S’ok sweetie. I mean I could go all wrathful and all and teach him some respect, but I enjoy our witty repartee too much,” he said with a sly wink. 

“What do you want Gabriel?” Dean asked. 

“Well I was just wanting to catch up, let my favorite toys know I was back from the dead, but now,” Gabriel went from genial to angry in the blink of an eye, making Dean wonder if he was bipolar or something. That would definitely explain a lot. “Seriously! What the hell was Sam thinking? Oh that’s right. He wasn’t. Because you morons never think!” 

Dean suddenly got an idea. If anyone could break his brother out it was Gabriel, but would he? And would Dean even be able to get out the words to ask. Asking for help was not in Dean’s nature, and asking Gabriel of all beings was like pouring salt in the wound, but for his brother…”Gabriel could you…I mean is there any way…”

“Of course I can break him out. He’ll be back with you by breakfast,” Gabriel said rolling his eyes and promptly disappeared. 

“Is he always so…” Lisa trailed off. 

“Annoying? Yes,” Dean said.

Lisa was going to say something more along the lines of abrupt, but let it go. “And he died for you?” Lisa asked trying to understand Dean’s hostility towards the archangel.

“Yeah, and turned Sam and I against each other, and killed me over a hundred times, and trapped Sam and I in an alternate dimension made of terrible TV shows to try to make us get the apocalypse over with.” 

“Oh,” Lisa didn’t know what else to say to that so wisely kept her mouth shut. 

“But if he can bust Sammy out of hell, I might even forgive him for that. I mean he did stand up to a roomful of pagan gods and Lucifer himself to save us in the end,” Dean mused, not really intending Lisa to hear it, but she did anyway and just turned and went to bed. Sometimes there was a thing as too much information she thought. She had always been trying to get Dean to tell her more about his old job, and now she was a little bit glad he didn’t if these were the kinds of revelations she was going to get. 

 

Gabriel appeared next to a bloodied Sam within the cage. “Heya Samsquatch. Wanna blow this joint?” Gabriel said happily. 

“Gabriel? How…” Sam trailed off not sure which question he wanted to ask first. 

“I’m guessing dear old dad saw fit to give me another chance, and there is an escape hatch in this place that I can take you to,” Gabriel said answering both of Sam’s questions that he couldn’t ask.

Michael and Lucifer had noticed them by this point though and stopped their fighting. “And what do you think you are doing here Gabriel?” Lucifer snarled at his baby brother.

“I’ve come to take Sam out of here,” Gabriel said standing tall and daring his brothers to stop him. 

All the archangel’s knew there was only one way out and so Michael and Lucifer laughed, “Go ahead Gabriel, but don’t take too long. It’ll be nice having a new toy,” Michael said cruelly, knowing that torturing Gabriel would be far more entertaining than the weak human soul. 

“C’mon Sam-a-lam. This way,” Gabriel said grabbing Sam’s hand and pulling him along. Most people thought of the cage as a little box without realizing that it was its own hellish dimension. 

“What did they mean new toy? Where are we going?” Sam asked.

“There is one way and one way only out of the cage. There is a portal that human souls can pass through for escape. It can only be opened by an archangel though and I knew Mikey and Luci wouldn’t be so kind as to let you out so here I am!” Gabriel said flamboyantly. 

“But only human souls can pass?” Sam asked hoping he wasn’t understanding correctly. 

“Yup,” Gabriel said not betraying the fear he felt.

“Then how will you get out?” Sam asked. When Gabriel didn’t speak Sam said firmly, “Gabriel. How will you get out?” He was daring Gabriel to say what he was beginning to suspect. 

“I won’t,” was all the archangel said. 

“Gabriel No!” Sam said brokenly. He couldn’t let someone else sacrifice themselves for him. Not again. Even if it was someone who annoyed the crap out of him. No, especially because it was someone who annoyed the crap out of him. “I can’t let you do that!”

“Too late Sammy-boy. I’m already trapped,” Gabriel said matter-of-factly. 

“But you left heaven because you couldn’t stand to see your brothers fight, and now you will be trapped with them fighting for all eternity! And who knows what they will do to you!” Sam practically yelled at the angel.

Gabriel shrugged, “Oh I know exactly what they will do to me, but that’s not for you to worry about. I knew what I was getting into when I came down here. Hell comes in many forms kiddo.”

They had reached a wall that seemed indistinguishable from the rest, but when Gabriel placed his had on it, it started to shimmer. “Gabriel…” Sam said sadly.

“Go on kid. Don’t make me be stuck here for nothing,” Gabriel said with a wry smile before he couldn’t help himself anymore and reached out his other hand and placed it gently on the side of Sam’s face. “Go live your life and be happy Sammy,” he said pleadingly. 

Sam placed his hand over Gabriel’s and squeezed it lightly, tears running down his cheeks. “Goodbye Gabriel,” he choked out.

Gabriel wanted so badly to kiss the hunter, but Sam would probably push him away disgusted, and no matter how the hunter reacted it would make this so much harder so he just moved his hand down to Sam’s chest and gave him a hard push through the shimmering wall. “Goodbye Sammy,” he said finally allowing his own tears to fall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam finds his way to Dean and struggles to put the past behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not much action in this chapter. mostly just finding their way and setting some things straight. And I know most people don't, but I happen to like Lisa, so she will be part of this story, at least in the beginning. Not sure where it's going yet though.

Sam suddenly found himself skidding on his butt in Stull cemetary. He came out where he went in it seemed. He closed his eyes briefly against the rush of sensations that he had forgotten even existed. And maybe a little bit to hide the tears too. He couldn’t believe that Gabriel just sacrificed himself like that. Trapped himself in his own personal hell to get Sam out. How was he supposed to live with that?Sam tucked his knees to his chest, wrapped his arms around them, and rested his head on top of them. 

He sat there like that until the rain started. It was around two am if the phone he had in his pocket were to be believed. He had apparently appeared the same way he went in. He grabbed his back pocket relieved to find that his wallet was there. Now he just had to hope that Dean hadn’t cancelled his cards. At the thought of his brother, his head snapped up and he grabbed for the phone again. He considered waiting until morning, but decided if coming back from hell didn’t give him the right to wake his brother then nothing would.

 

Dean reached around Lisa to grab his old phone that he kept in case of emergency. Everyone pretty much knew he was out of the business, but occasionally he was needed and no one else was in the area. 

“This better be important,” he snapped groggily as he answered.

“Dean?” Sam asked despite knowing that it was his brother on the phone. He just couldn’t believe he was hearing his voice again. By his reckoning he had been gone thirty years though he knew it would only have been about three months for Dean.

Dean sat straight up in bed, waking Lisa with the movement, “Sammy!” Dean cried happily. “Where are you? Are you okay? I can’t believe the little pixie actually did it!”

“I’m in Lawrence. I’m fine. And I can’t believe you knew what he was going to do!” Sam said that last part accusingly. 

Dean started to think that maybe he had missed something, “Um…what did he do?”

“He took my place Dean! He’s trapped down there now, being tortured in god only knows how many ways because he took my place!” Sam yelled at his brother. 

Dean was gob smacked. He couldn’t believe that Gabriel would ever do that. I mean self-preservation was practically the archangel’s middle name. “No I didn’t know he was going to…” he trailed off for a moment before saying completely baffled, “He took your place?” Lisa gasped in shock next to him and covered her mouth in horror. 

“He didn’t tell you? Apparently the escape hatch is only for human souls and can only be opened by an archangel, so the two archdouches down there could have let me out anytime, but since they wouldn’t Gabriel trapped himself down there to let me out,” Sam explained heavily. 

“Shit Sammy. You okay?” Dean asked, knowing that it must be eating Sam alive. 

“I’m fine Dean,” Sam said with a note of finality to it so Dean knew not to push anymore. “Where are you?”

Dean turned to Lisa and mouthed ‘guest room?’ to which she nodded, and Dean told Sam, “Cicero Indiana. If you can get to a bus I’ll pick you up at the bus station.” 

“You went to Lisa like I asked?” Sam said both relieved and astonished.

“Well it was basically your dying wish,” Dean said rolling his eyes. 

“And she’s okay with me coming by?” Sam asked not wanting to disrupt his brother’s new apple pie life. 

“Sure thing Sammy. We’ll get the guest bedroom ready in the morning,” Dean said firmly daring his brother to argue about it. 

“You didn’t cancel my cards did you?” Sam asked.

“Nah. You might have needed them. Didn’t know if hell had a Starbucks,” Dean joked and surprisingly Sam let out a short laugh. 

“Ok. Go back to sleep Dean. I’ll call you when I get in.”

“Okay Sammy. I’m really glad you’re back by the way.”

“Me too Dean. I just wish it hadn’t cost so much,” Sam said sadly as he hung up the phone. 

Dean lay back down and pulled Lisa close to him. He was so glad that he had his brother back. Now he had to forgive Gabriel. Nothing he had ever done to hurt them could even come close to everything he had done for them. 

Sam briefly thought of calling Bobby, but decided that could wait until the morning. The old man would be likely to shoot him for waking him up this early, escaped from hell or not. Sam chucked at the thought and started walking. He reached the edge of town around sunup and went into the diner for breakfast. He had forgotten how good food was. Once he had eaten more than he had ever eaten in his life, he found the bus station and caught the next bus to Indiana. 

He arrived mid-afternoon and called Dean only to find that his brother had been camped at the bus station all day. He followed the ringing phone and reached Dean just as he answered. Dean spun around and grabbed Sam in a huge hug, which the taller man gratefully returned. “You’re sure me being here isn’t going to cause any trouble for you?” Sam asked hesitantly as his brother pulled back. 

“Nah man. Lisa’s cool with it.”

“It’s just…um…I don’t know how well I’ll sleep after…you know,” Sam said nervously. He could remember every moment of hell and knew that would likely add up to some serious nightmares. 

“Don’t worry about it. Guest room in soundproofed,” Dean assured him. Sam looked at him curiously so Dean sighed and added, “I slept there the first few weeks.”

Sam nodded in understanding as they got into the Impala that Dean had dusted off for the occasion. “You didn’t happen to keep my stuff did you?” Sam asked hopefully.

“It’s in the garage at home,” Dean said with a smile. Lisa had been after him to get rid of it, but Dean couldn’t bear to, and now he was glad he didn’t. 

 

When they pulled into the garage they got out and Dean grabbed Sam’s bag and tossed it to him as they made their way inside. Once Sam stowed his bag in the guest room he took Sam to the kitchen, figuring he must be hungry after being on a bus all day and in hell for three months before that. Lisa was making a salad and took a break to give Sam a tentative hug, which he happily returned. It had been way too long since he had been hugged, and he was soaking up all he could get. “Thanks for letting me crash here,” Sam said softly. 

“You’re family,” was all she said in return. Sam smiled. Dean sure found himself a good one in her. 

After he ate, Sam wanted to go to bed. He was exhausted. He literally hadn’t slept in thirty years after all. If he were anyone else, he probably would have slept on the bus, but sleeping in front of other people was pretty much impossible for a hunter unless it was someone you literally trusted with your life. 

Sam woke late the next morning and found Lisa in the kitchen. “Dean’s already left for work. He didn’t want to wake you.”

Sam nodded and asked, “So what’s he doing for work these days?” 

“Construction actually, though he gets roped into research for Bobby pretty often, but he doesn’t hunt anymore unless something gets close to here.”

“Well until I figure out what I’m going to do and actually get a job, I’ll take over the research and nearby hunts for him. At least it’ll be something I can do to help out.”

“That would be great Sam. Thanks,” Lisa said with a bright smile. She knew well the need to do something…anything after a trauma and thought it would be good for him. Speaking of good for him. “I know you don’t really know me, but Dean isn’t much of a talker, and since I actually know what really happened…well…if you ever need to talk…” she left that open-ended. 

“Thank you Lisa. Really,” Sam said sincerely. “Right now though I just need to process, you know?”

She patted his shoulder. “I get it.” She could sympathize. Something that big was bound to come with some serious baggage involved. But maybe there was something she could get him to talk about, that she was admittedly curious about. “So that Gabriel sure is a character huh?” she started tentatively. 

Sam snorted. “That’s an understatement,” he said sadly. 

“I understand there was a lot that went on between the three of you,” she said. 

“You can say that again. Half the time we wanted to kill him, the rest of the time…well we just wanted to hurt him,” he said with a humorless laugh. “I get it now though. He always had his reasons.”

“What kind of reasons?” she asked curiously. She knew there was more to the story than killing Dean and wanting them to get the apocalypse over with. 

“Did Dean tell you that he ran away from heaven and took on the persona of the trickster god Loki?” Sam asked. That bit of information was pretty useful for understanding Gabriel after all. Lisa just chuckled and shook her head so Sam continued, “When we met him he was playing tricks on people. Some of them deadly tricks and we thought he was just another trickster and tried to kill him. We didn’t realize that we didn’t until he trapped us in a time loop where I had to watch Dean die over and over every day,” Sam said morosely. “I understand now why he did it. It was after Dean made his deal for me. He wanted to teach me how to let go, or get me so immune to Dean’s death or something to keep me from going off the deep end when he died and starting the apocalypse.”

After getting that whole story Lisa asked, “Dean said something about an alternate dimension with bad TV shows?”

Sam laughed at that. “Looking back that was pretty funny if you get over the whole he wanted us to play our roles and get the apocalypse over with part. He was so sick of watching his family fight that he just wanted to get it over and done with so that hopefully things could get back to normal. I can understand that. I ran away from a bad home situation just like he did, and would have done anything to see it end so I could go back home. I still don’t agree with him, but I understand him,” Sam stopped and looked down willing the tears from his eyes. “And then we were captured by a hotel full of pagan gods and he just waltzed right in as Loki, and tried to bust us out from under their noses. I thought he died then, when Kali stabbed him with his own blade, but it was just another trick and he turned up just in time to give us time to escape from Lucifer and paid with his own life,” Sam sniffed a little and Lisa rubbed his shoulder. “Then he comes back to life just to trade my hell for his.” There were tears running down Sam’s face now. “I don’t know how to live with that,” he admitted in a small voice. 

“Sometimes the only thing we can do is go forward, and if the occasion arises we ask for help,” Lisa said thinking about how Dean handled Sam’s death. He struggled to get through one day at a time, and when Gabriel popped in on them, he had asked for help. Maybe one day Sam would get that kind of divine help. 

“Thanks Lisa,” Sam said gratefully. He wasn’t really ready to talk about hell just yet, but he felt like he needed to talk about Gabriel. He felt like keeping silent would be like keeping him a dirty little secret, and his sacrifice deserved to be aired in the light of day, at least to those who could know of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> God makes Sam an offer, but will he take it?

Ben had come home from his friend’s house that afternoon and Sam reveled in the chance to just throw a ball around for a few hours. Even as a kid he had rarely got to do that, so it was a nice way to take his mind off things. Once Dean got home they all went in for dinner and then sat around the TV watching movies. Sam went to bed not long after Ben did though. He had a lot of sleep to catch up on, and he didn’t want to intrude on the couple’s alone time. 

When he got to the guest room he sat on the bed for a moment thinking about what Lisa had said that morning about asking for help. He knew of only one being in existence that could help. He didn’t really expect god to answer his prayers, but he didn’t know what else to try and he had to try something, so he prayed. “God, I know you’re probably not listening and if you are you probably don’t care.” Okay so he was a little bitter. “But Gabriel is trapped down in the cage with your two eldest, and they are probably torturing him as we speak. He’s only down there because of me. He sacrificed himself for me, and he doesn’t deserve that. Please get him out. Or tell me how to get him out. Just do something. Please. Don’t just let him rot down there. Amen.”

Just as he expected no response came. Nor did he get one the next night. Nor the night after. He continued praying though. Every night at least. Sometimes during the day too. On his really bad days as many as five times a day, because that was all he could do, and it was never enough. Finally though, after two months of praying himself hoarse, he did get a response. 

Sam was lying in a peaceful meadow, just watching the clouds go by when he heard a voice, “I have heard your prayers Samuel. What is it you expect me to do?”

Sam sat straight up, “God?” he asked hopefully. Suddenly a man appeared in front of him. “Chuck?” he said confused.

“I have gone by both in recent years,” God laughed. 

“You mean you were there? The whole time right under our noses? And you just stood by?” Sam was too angry to care that he was being disrespectful to God, but thankfully the deity was understanding. 

“The reason I left heaven was so that my children there could learn free will the way my children here have. As long as I was there, they would do nothing but take orders. I was very unhappy with what they chose to do with that free will, but to interfere directly would have completely undermined everything I wished to teach them. I helped as much as I could,” God explained patiently. 

“Helped? You call that helping?” Sam asked incredulously. 

“How do you think Gabriel found out about the keys to the cage? It’s not exactly the kind of information you can google,” God said humorously. Sam took a moment to get his head around the fact that God had referenced googling, but then God began speaking again. “I gave you the information you needed to end things. I led you to that cemetery hoping that you would be able to get through to Sam. I brought back Castiel twice to help you.”

“And the cage? You were just going to let me rot down there? Are you going to let Gabriel rot down there too? After you brought him back and everything?” Sam asked indignantly. 

“You jumped into the cage of your own free will Samuel. I knew the only way out of the cage, and I knew that Michael and Lucifer would never let you out, so I brought back the only archangel who held fondness for you. I didn’t know if he would trade himself for you, but it was a chance. He too went down there of his own free will. I brought him back, yes, but it was his decision what to do once he was back.”

“Then bring him back again. Pull him out of the cage. Please,” Sam begged. 

“I cannot,” he said sadly. 

Sam caught the way he stressed the word ‘I’ so asked, “Is there anything I can do?”

“Perhaps, but it is not something to be taken lightly. You should think well before you decide Samuel,” God said firmly.

“What is it?” Sam asked optimistically. 

“I could bind him to you, and use that bond to pull him out, but consider carefully because this bond would be eternal. There would be no breaking it, you would be tethered together for all of time. Not even death would break it.”

“Tethered together how?” 

“The closest you could relate too would be marriage, but far more binding and without the possibility of divorce, and lasting beyond time itself. You would have to stay in the same room for at least the first few months, perhaps longer depending on the strength of the bond, and would always need to be close and spend a great deal of time together. You would only be able to be with each other for the rest of time, and the bond would have to be consummated, very quickly after he was released, in order to keep it active.”

Sam blanched at that. “How…um…how quickly?”

“Within a few hours.”

“Ok…um…what about him? Doesn’t he get a choice?” Sam asked nervously. This was a big decision he was being asked to make for both of them. 

“He does not, if for no other reason than he is unreachable to make that choice. You must be the one to decide.”

Sam thought hard. He wanted to make sure he had all the facts he could get. “What would happen if one of us were to…um…be unfaithful or something?”

“You would be tethering him to the earth with your bond. If that bond is weakened by something such as that, the stronger force would win pulling him back into the cage, and you along with him, and I would not interfere again,” God said firmly. 

“Ok,” Sam was wracking his brain thinking of more questions. “You said that death wouldn’t break it. What would happen if one of us died?”

“Nothing that wouldn’t kill him would kill you. In a bond like this, both parties are as strong as the strongest party. Should something strong enough kill one of you, then the other will follow, and your souls would wander the earth together. Angels cannot go to heaven after death and human souls cannot go to their afterlife either.”

“Would we…go crazy or anything like souls who are trapped here usually do?” Sam asked. 

“Perhaps, but not necessarily. You would have each other so you could hold onto that to keep your sanity. There would be little difference from being human. You choose to be good or evil.”

“Ok,” Sam said thoughtfully. He couldn’t think of any more questions. “Ok. Can I…um…have some time to think about it or do you need an answer now?” Sam asked. 

“You may take your time. When you have reached a decision, pray to me,” he said as he disappeared and Sam woke. 

 

Sam was glad that Dean was already at work when he woke up. He didn’t plan on hiding this from Dean, but he was glad he would have a chance to talk to Lisa about it first and get his own head around it. He and Lisa had talked a lot over the last months and she had been very supportive. He hadn’t told her that he had been praying for God’s help, mostly because he was rather embarrassed about it. The guy hadn’t even helped with the apocalypse and Sam expected him to jump in to save one archangel? Even after God’s explanation he still thought the deity should have done a lot more to stop it, and didn’t have much forgiveness for him. 

“Morning Sam,” Lisa said cheerily as he walked into the kitchen as she was cleaning up after breakfast. “There’s still some waffles if you’re hungry,” she offered. 

“Not really hungry at the moment,” Sam muttered as he went over to help her wash the dishes.

“What’s up?” she asked recognizing his pensieve face. Sam told her about how he had been praying and then told her about the option that God had laid out for him. “Ok so let’s look at this objectively and take one thing at a time. What are your concerns?”

“Well the biggest concern is making this decision for the both of us. What right do I have to decide something this monumental for him?”

“Ok so you think that he would rather stay in hell than be bound to you up here?” Lisa asked already knowing the answer of course. She just wanted to make him think about it. 

Sam thought for a moment, “Well I guess when you put it like that.” He couldn’t imagine that Gabriel would think that he was worse than hell so Sam moved on to his next concern. “I can’t even grasp the concept of eternity and I would be binding myself to someone that I’ve barely gotten along with in the past.”

“That’s true, and definitely something to consider. Do you think you could learn to get along with him? Do you think that saving him from hell would be worth learning to get along with him?” Lisa had a lot of practice helping people make difficult decisions. She had been a single mother to a now teenage son after all. 

“Well sure I could learn to get along with him, and it would be worth it, but the whole idea of…um…consummation…and being faithful to each other for eternity…that’s a lot to give up, for both of us.”

“Well we’ve already established the fact that he would be better off here even with those restrictions, so you just have to decide what it’s worth giving up for you,” Lisa said patiently. She knew this was a big decision. She couldn’t even wrap her head around it and she suspected that even with him having more experience in these kinds of situations that he was having the same problem. 

Sam thought about it. It would definitely be a sacrifice. Never being able to sleep with a woman again. And he couldn’t imagine that he and Gabriel would have much contact after the initial consummation was over. The thing that he couldn’t get out of his head though was the fact that Gabriel had made a much bigger sacrifice to save Sam. He owed the archangel this much and a whole lot more even. The rest of the kitchen was clean before he spoke again, “Thanks Lisa. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

She squeezed his shoulder as she left him to his thoughts. She couldn’t help but think about how much she liked when he was lost in thought. The house never got cleaner.


	4. Chapter 4

After dinner that night Lisa took Ben to the movies, knowing that Sam wanted some time to talk to Dean about God’s deal. Once she left Dean immediately turned to Sam and said, “Ok spill.”

That caught Sam completely off guard and he just said, “What?”

“There’s obviously something on your mind. I caught the looks between you and Lisa and the way she rushed out of here. What’s going on?”

Sam sighed, “Ok here’s the thing. I’ve been praying to see if God would get Gabriel out of the cage. I just can’t accept that he sacrificed himself for me like that and not try to do anything I can to fix it. I didn’t know what else to try but prayer.”

Dean snorted, “Like he’d ever answer.”

“Well that’s the thing. He did. Last night,” Sam said tentatively. 

“And? Is he gonna spring the pixie or not?” Dean asked impatiently. 

“Well turns out he can’t. Not unless Gabriel is bound to something…or rather someone…on earth,” Sam said edging around the entire point of the discussion. 

Dean groaned, “And let me guess. That someone just has to be you for some godforsaken reason.” Sam nodded. “Bound how?”

“Like a marriage but more binding, no divorce, forced fidelity, and all that garbage. Oh and it’s forever. No death escape clause. And on top of that we will have to be at least in the same room for months while the bond settles,” Sam said grudgingly. 

Dean took a deep breath to calm himself. He knew that if he blew up at his brother this would get out of control and he would do it just to spite him. Once he felt like he could speak without saying something stupid he said, “Look Sam. I get that you feel guilty. Hell I feel guilty too, but that’s no reason to throw your life away.”

“Don’t you think I owe him that much at least?” Sam asked annoyed.

“Sure you do, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it. You have to think about yourself too,” Dean said with forced calm.

“I hear you Dean. Really. But the fact is that I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t do this,” Sam said hoping that his brother would understand. 

Dean sighed in defeat. “This house isn’t big enough for all of us,” he said warningly wanting to make sure Sam knew what the consequences would be. He loved his brother, but he wouldn’t have the trickster archangel in such an enclosed space with Lisa and Ben. 

“I get it Dean. I’m sure he has some place he can snap us too,” Sam said sadly. 

“It’s not that I don’t want you here Sammy. I love having you here. So do Lisa and Ben,” Dean explained.

“I know, but you’re right. Keeping Gabriel in such an enclosed space with your family is just begging for a disaster. Hell keeping Gabriel in an enclosed space period is begging for a disaster,” Sam said with a short laugh. 

Dean laughed too, glad that Sam didn’t have any hard feelings over his decision. “So you’re really gonna do this thing huh?” 

“Yeah. I’ll accept tonight, so I probably won’t be here in the morning.”

“Ok Sammy. Just keep in touch okay? And stop by sometimes. I’m sure you can keep him on a leash for short visits,” Dean said humorously. 

“We’ll have to see how house-broken he is,” Sam said laughing with his brother. He was glad that this wasn’t going to ruin their relationship. 

 

Sam paced nervously in his room for a long while before he just turned his head up and said, “Ok God. I accept. Bind me and Gabriel and get him out of the cage.” 

He had barely finished speaking before he heard a thud behind him. He spun to find Gabriel picking himself up off the floor looking at him with an unreadable expression. “What did you do?” Gabriel asked heatedly. When Sam just stammered for a moment, Gabriel repeated, “What the hell did you do Sam?”

He knew Sam had to have done something major. Getting him out of the cage was no easy task. He was proven right when Sam found his words, “God bound us together to get an anchor to pull you out.”

“Damnit Sam!” Gabriel yelled before he looked around realizing that they were in suburbia. Dean’s house if he recognized the architecture right. Contrary to popular belief he did have some manners. Enough at least not to start an argument in someone else’s house, so he snapped his fingers and the two of them appeared in his cottage in the middle of nowhere where he could yell all he wanted without worrying about disturbing anyone. Well anyone except for the idiotic hunter in front of him. “Damnit Sam!” he repeated with even more volume. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“I know exactly what I’ve done Gabriel,” Sam yelled back. “And it’s a hell of a lot less than what you did!”

Gabriel deflated some. He was still pissed but he stopped yelling. “You realize this is forever right? No getting out of it for either of us. You’ve trapped us both in this train wreck.”

“You think I don’t know that? You think I’d make a decision like this without getting all the facts?” Sam said heatedly and then he deflated. “Look. God um…he said…he said we would need to consummate this thing pretty much immediately so can we continue yelling at each other later and just…um…get that part over with,” Sam said nervously. 

“Just what every guy wants to hear from his new husband,” Gabriel snarled sarcastically. “So you got a preference on how we do this? Have you ever even slept with a man before?” he asked just as sarcastically. 

“Um…no and no,” Sam said blushing bright red. 

Gabriel sighed heavily. They both had to get off or it wouldn’t count, so letting Sam bumble around on top without knowing what he was doing was out of the question. He couldn’t believe he was going to do this. Sam wasn’t exactly a willing participant as much as he agreed to it, but he didn’t exactly have a choice. He would do as Sam asked and ‘get it over with’ with the minimum of fuss. “Ok get naked, turn around, and bend over,” Gabriel ordered as he began stripping himself. 

Gabriel hadn’t thought that Sam could get any more red than he already was, but he proved the archangel wrong as he complied with his orders. Once he had done so Gabriel prodded him into a better position and lubed his fingers before sliding one in, getting a pained whimper from Sam. Gabriel tamped his anger down at that. He didn’t want to hurt the hunter. “Sorry Sam. I’ll be as gentle as I can,” he said softly. 

“S’ok. I figured it would hurt,” Sam said through clenched teeth. 

“You gotta relax Sammy.” Gabriel moved slower and more gently as he pulled his finger back out and pressed it back in, angling it to hit Sam’s prostate making Sam gasp and relax a fraction. Gabriel crooked his finger and hit it again drawing a whimper of something more than pain as he relaxed even more. Now they were getting somewhere. Gabriel slowly kept moving his finger in and out as he loosened the hunter up and Sam slowly relaxed more as he realized that he could get something more than pain out of this experience. 

Once he felt that Sam was ready, Gabriel inserted another finger, getting another whimper of pain, but there was pleasure in it too. “Just relax Sammy,” Gabriel said soothingly as he slowly moved his fingers in and out. Once that was comfortable he started scissoring them to make more room, still making sure to hit Sam’s prostate. His mind may have hated every minute of this, but his cock definitely had different ideas as he was rock hard and dripping pre-cum. He was fighting to hold himself back.

By the time he inserted the third finger, he could tell that Sam was hard too. Good. That would definitely make this easier. Once Sam was ready, he removed his fingers and moved his now clean hands to Sam’s hips lining himself up with the hunter’s entrance. Sam immediately tensed. “You have to relax Sam or this is gonna hurt,” he admonished. With all the preparation he had done, Sam wouldn’t feel more than a slight burn if he was relaxed. 

“Sorry,” Sam said sheepishly as he forced himself to relax. Once he had, Gabriel started pushing in slowly. Sam was overwhelmed at the full feeling. When Gabriel was about halfway in Sam said, “Gabriel wait.”

Gabriel took a deep breath for control. Shit Sam was just so tight and hot and perfect. It was taking everything he had not to just plunge in. He let out an unsteady breath. “Waiting,” he said shakily.

Sam didn’t envy Gabriel right now, but was very glad of his patience. As angry as he had been, Sam was grateful that he didn’t just bend him over and have his way with him, comfort be damned. Sam would have deserved it too, after trapping Gabriel into this and making such a huge decision for them both. He took a moment to adjust and as soon as he thought he could handle it he said, “Sorry. Go ahead.”

Gabriel continued on just as slowly, despite his control issues, until he was fully seated. Then he paused again to give Sam a chance to adjust. “Just let me know when you’re ready Sam,” he said understandingly. 

Sam waited a moment then gave his hips an experimental wiggle before he nodded to the archangel who pulled out slowly and pushed back in just as slowly angling to hit Sam’s prostate and Sam couldn’t help the small moan that escaped. Encouraged by that Gabriel started moving faster and reached around to start stroking Sam in time with his thrusts. He was so close to the edge that he knew that Sam coming would pull him over so he set to get Sam off as quick as possible. 

Given that Gabriel was hitting Sam’s prostate with every thrust and timing that with a little twist of his hand around the head of Sam’s cock, it didn’t take long at all for the hunter to spill over, pulling Gabriel with him. As soon as he was spent, Gabriel pulled out quickly and began re-dressing himself tossing Sam his own clothes. That certainly wasn’t how he had always imagined their first time, not that he ever thought he would actually get a first time anyway except in his fantasies, but he had to make do with what he had. 

Sam had finished pulling on his clothes and collapsed onto the couch he had been leaning over. Gabriel could see how exhausted the hunter was so decided to forgo any more arguing for the night. He snapped his fingers and they were in his bedroom, Sam sprawled across the bed now instead of the couch. Gabriel snapped up a comfortable chair for himself, knowing that they had to be in the same room and snapped at the hunter, “Go to sleep.”

Sam was exhausted and he was afraid to say anything else to Gabriel without starting another argument that he didn’t have the strength for so he just did as he was told.


	5. Chapter 5

Sam woke the next morning and looked over at Gabriel surprised to see that Gabriel was reading a thick book. “Good you’re up,” Gabriel snapped as he got up and walked to the door looking back at Sam expectantly. 

“I just need to…um…” he gestured towards the bathroom. 

“Of course,” Gabriel said rolling his eyes at his own forgetfulness. Sam was human. “Just hurry up.” Gabriel was going nuts being cooped up in one room all night. He would have to get used to it though.   
Gabriel stood next to the bathroom door that he had prompted Sam to leave open. The bond was still too fragile to have to try and connect them through solid objects. Obviously he kept his back to the door though. He had no desire to spy on the hunter after all. 

Once Sam came out of the bathroom Gabriel led them outside and snapped up a fruit salad for Sam, knowing how he liked to eat healthy as he sat in the middle of the open field, laid back and sighed   
contentedly. Sam smiled as he sat next to the irritable archangel and started eating his breakfast. “Thanks Gabriel,” he said softly. He didn’t get a response, but at least he didn’t get snapped at so he chalked it up as a win. Once he had finished eating something dawned on him so he turned to Gabriel. “I…um…have a question.”

“Then ask it,” Gabriel said only mildly irritated. Being outdoors in the open had done wonders for his mood. 

“Well I know we have to be in the same room and all, but when we’re outside like this how do I know how far apart we can get?”

Gabriel thought for a moment. That was a surprisingly good question. “You’ll feel a sort of…I don’t know…tugging? Twisting? Feeling in your chest when you start getting too far away. When you feel that, come closer.” At Sam’s furrowed brow he could tell that Sam was trying to figure out what it could feel like. “Look I’ll stay here, just walk away. You’ll know it when you feel it, and if you don’t I’ll let you know.”

Sam got up and started walking away. At about twenty yards he felt that feeling and turned back towards Gabriel and sat down next to him again. Gabriel looked at him peculiarly. He thought that Sam would have stayed as far away as he could manage. Sam didn’t see that though as he wasn’t looking at Gabriel. He was just looking around the clearing. “Where are we?” Sam asked curiously. 

“Scotland,” was all Gabriel said. 

Sam decided that Gabriel apparently wasn’t up for conversation so just laid on his back next to him watching the sky with him. After about an hour of silence Sam pointed up and said, “That one looks like a dog.”

Gabriel smiled in spite of himself and decided to join the game for now. He could be mad again later. “You’re crazy. That’s obviously a rabbit.”

“Have you ever seen a rabbit?” Sam asked with a laugh, “or a dog?”

“Of course Samsquatch. Which is how I know that that is clearly a rabbit,” Gabriel said smugly as if that proved that he was right. 

They played that game for the next few hours before Sam’s stomach started growling. It was as if that snapped Gabriel back to his usual tetchy self as he snapped his fingers and a plate of burgers appeared on Sam’s stomach and just said, “Eat.” When Sam sat up to eat them Gabriel went silent again. Sam knew that Gabriel was pissed off about what he had done, and Sam couldn’t help but feel that he deserved it, but he also knew that there was more going on and wondered what had happened to him in the cage that turned such a being of laughter and pranks, into such a walking time bomb. He knew better than to ask though so he kept his mouth shut. 

They danced around each other for a week, Gabriel never saying anything but snapping orders at Sam, and Sam trying to stay out of Gabriel’s way as much as he could given that they had to be in the same room at all times. They sat out in the clearing again most of the time Sam was awake. He definitely understood Gabriel’s obsession with being outside after being trapped in the cage for so long. He had gone through the same thing. A week was all he could handle of their standoff though before he sighed and turned to Gabriel, “Gabriel, can we talk?”

“Fine. Talk,” Gabriel said testily. 

“Look I get that you’re pissed, and you have every right to be, but we are in this now and it can’t be changed, so can we please just try to make the best of it?” 

Gabriel turned and looked at Sam with fire in his eyes. “Do you even know why I’m pissed Sam?”

“Because I unilaterally made such a momentous decision that affected both of us,” Sam said as if it should be obvious. 

“And there you go. You completely missed the point. As usual,” Gabriel snapped. “Not that I’m exactly happy about that, but that’s not on you. That’s on dear old dad.”

“He said he couldn’t ask you while you were in the cage,” Sam said. 

“If the demons found a way to get instructions from Lucifer I’m sure he could have found a way to ask me if he had tried hard enough. He just didn’t want to ask me because he knew that I would say no.”

Sam’s face fell as he looked down and began picking at the grass, “Is it…am I…” Sam trailed off. 

“If we’re gonna ‘make the best of it’ then you should probably know that starting a sentence and then stopping is one of my biggest pet peeves. If you’re gonna speak then speak. If not keep your mouth shut,” Gabriel barked.

Sam sighed, “Am I really so much worse than hell?” he asked in a small voice.

Gabriel opened and closed his mouth a few times. He couldn’t believe that something so stupid just came out of the hunter’s mouth. “Shit Sammy. That’s not it. Not at all. I sacrificed myself down there so that you could live your life, not throw it away the first chance you get by tethering yourself to someone you don’t even like!”

“Why would you think I don’t like you?” Sam asked annoyed that words were being put in his mouth.

“You haven’t exactly been subtle about it mr ‘let’s get it over with’ and ‘let’s make the best of it’, not to mention how you’ve been skirting around me not even talking to me for a week.”

Now Sam was getting mad. “I haven’t been talking to you because every time I try you bite my head off, so I’ve been trying to stay out of your way, which is the same reason I just said ‘let’s make the best of it’ because you’ve been acting like such a dick. When I said let’s get it over with I was scared to death! I had never been with a man before, as you so kindly pointed out,” he said sarcastically, “and all I knew was that it would probably hurt a lot!” 

“Oh so you’re telling me that you want this then? That you want to be trapped with me for the rest of eternity?” Gabriel said sarcastically.

“It’s better than the alternative!” Sam shot back. 

“What you mean the alternative where you do what I said and live your life and be happy? What the hell did I even sacrifice myself for if you were just going to end up miserable anyway?”

“You’re out of hell! That’s all that matters! Why do you even care?” Sam yelled. 

“Because I love you, you idiot,” Gabriel yelled back and then froze, eyes wide and darting as if looking for an escape even though they were out in the open and he knew he couldn’t get far from Sam anyway. Damnit. He couldn’t believe that he had just blurted out the one thing he had wanted to keep secret forever. 

Sam just gaped at him for a moment and all the pieces slid into place. Gabriel searching for another way to end the apocalypse, sacrificing himself for them at that hotel, and the long look he shot at Sam while they were leaving, the conversation and the tender way that Gabriel had said goodbye in hell, the way Gabriel had been so gentle with him when they had sex, the way Gabriel took his distance to heart. It all made sense now. “Gabriel I…” he had no idea what to say to that but he felt he had to say something, but Gabriel cut him off before he could get another word out. 

“Forget it Sam,” he said laying back down on the grass. 

“Gabriel…”

“Drop it Sam. It doesn’t matter,” Gabriel said forcefully. 

Only the fact that Sam had no idea what to say made him comply with the order. He needed some time to process that revelation. 

They had been lying there in silence for a few hours before Gabriel spoke again, “I’m sorry Sam. I’ll try to be less of an asshole.” He was really hoping that Sam would forget about his idiotic heat of the moment confession. Sam just smiled and reached over and took Gabriel’s hand and threaded their fingers together hoping he wasn’t going to set Gabriel off again with the action. “Sam?” Gabriel said curiously and cautiously. 

Sam turned to look at the archangel. “Look Gabriel, I don’t know what I feel for you right now, but I know I feel something. It’s not love, not yet, but might be if you’ll give this a chance. Give us a chance.”

Gabriel smiled and squeezed Sam’s hand, turning back to watch as the stars started winking into existence in the sky. “Do you know the stars Sammy?” he asked softly. 

“Teach me?” Sam asked just as softly and Gabriel did. He did more than tell Sam the names of the stars. He told Sam the story of each star’s creation. Well as many as they could get through before Sam fell asleep anyway. Gabriel heard Sam’s snore in the middle of Andromeda’s story and he chuckled softly and rolled to his side facing the hunter. He used the hand that wasn’t in Sam’s to brush a lock of hair away from the hunter’s forehead and smiled. It wasn’t as much as he hoped for, but it was more than he ever expected. Maybe they could make something of this after all.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam woke the next morning as the sun hit his face and he was startled for a moment to realize that he was still outside. “Morning Sleepyhead,” he heard from his right and turned to see Gabriel lying on his side next to him. Sam realized that they were still holding hands and blushed so Gabriel let go and moved a bit away from the hunter who started stretching. Gabriel’s breath hitched as Sam’s shirt rode up exposing a few inches of his stomach. It had been more than twenty years for him and all he’d had was that very disappointing quickie to seal their bond. Gabriel couldn’t help but wonder how Sam’s skin would taste and feel and wonder if he would ever get the chance to find out. 

Gabriel snapped up breakfast for them both as a distraction. Once he was finished eating Sam said, “Hey Gabriel?”

“Hmm?” Gabriel said around a mouthful of cake. 

“You think maybe when you’re finished we could take a walk or something. I really need to do something active.” Sam knew better than to suggest a run, but a walk could be nice. 

Gabriel had forgotten that Sam didn’t exactly like to laze around the way that he did, and he felt bad for making him do it for over a week. He was surprised that Sam hadn’t gotten up and started running in circles around him and he chuckled at that thought. “Sure thing Sam-a-lam,” he said with a smile, knowing the perfect place to walk with him.

Gabriel rose to his feet and reached out a hand to pull Sam up, and holding it loosely once Sam was on his feet, giving the hunter the option of whether to let go or not. Sam just smiled at him and threaded their fingers together. Gabriel smiled too and started walking leaving Sam to fall into step next to him. “I can’t believe you let me sleep on the ground all night,” Sam said mock annoyed. 

“Hey I kept the dew and the dirt and the bugs off you and made sure you didn’t get too cold,” Gabriel said with mock indignation. 

“Thanks for that,” Sam said cheekily as they reached the tree line around the clearing. 

“Well I could always just let the dew and the bugs have you next time,” Gabriel teased. 

“Or you could just move me to a bed next time,” Sam teased back. 

“Hey you’re a grown man. I figured if you wanted a bed you’d have found one,” Gabriel said humorously. 

“Well it’s all your fault with your fascinating stories and velvety voice that just lulled me to sleep,” Sam said laughing. 

Gabriel laughed along with him and bumped Sam’s arm with his shoulder pushing him away slightly before their joined hands pulled them back. They had reached the babbling brook that Gabriel had wanted to show Sam and began walking along beside it. “It’s really pretty out here,” Sam said.

Gabriel just shrugged. “This is where I come for peace and relaxation. I haven’t been here in decades…not even counting hell time, but after hell it seemed like a good place to be.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Sam asked tentatively.

“What hell?” Gabriel asked incredulously.

“You don’t have to,” Sam backtracked, “but it helps to talk about it. It helped me anyway.”

Gabriel closed his eyes a moment and took a deep breath. “No I don’t want to talk about it. Not right now.” The last thing he needed right now was for Sam to realize just how fucked up he really was. He knew that he needed to, before the hunter got in too deep, but he didn’t want to ruin this time. Maybe after their walk. 

“Okay,” Sam said squeezing the archangel’s hand reassuringly and changed the subject. “So where in Scotland are we?”

 

By the time they had made it back to the clearing it was nearly lunchtime and Gabriel had told Sam some completely scandalous stories about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce that Sam wasn’t surprised had never made the history books. He was beginning to realize just how much fun he would have with Gabriel and started to think that maybe eternity wasn’t so bad after all, even if he never fell in love with the archangel. 

He was surprised when Gabriel led them into the house for lunch. When Gabriel snapped up lunch and plopped on the couch with his Sam just shrugged and did the same. Their mean was interspersed with light conversation and when it was finished Gabriel snapped his fingers to clean up and sat back looking at the ceiling for a moment before he spoke. 

“They were really pissed at me. Beyond pissed really. I mean they couldn’t exactly blame you for using the rings given who you are and what you do, but me telling you how? That was a betrayal.”

“You did the right thing Gabriel,” Sam said softly. 

“To you maybe,” Gabriel scoffed. “Look. They are my brothers. Older than time itself and will continue to live long past the end of time if they don’t kill each other first, and I betrayed them to save a human who wouldn’t live more than a few more decades anyway.” Gabriel knew that Sam wouldn’t see it that way, but he wanted Sam to understand anyway. 

“You did it to save the world,” Sam pointed out. 

“No,” Gabriel said sadly. “I did it to save you. I don’t care about the rest of the world.” Sam had no idea what to say to that. What he could say to that. But then Gabriel was speaking again. “Lucifer taught me to fly you know,” Gabriel said wistfully. “And Michael taught me to use my powers. Lucifer taught me to use them for fun though. They raised me. They protected me.”

Sam had a sudden realization. When he had got back from the cage he craved human contact. He had Dean and Lisa and even Ben around for hugs, but Gabriel had no one. Sam had come back to a family that loved and cared for him and Gabriel came back to nothing. Sam felt guilty. He should have pushed through the archangel’s attitude and given him something…anything to make him feel valued, but it had been easier to keep his distance. Not anymore. He slid an arm around Gabriel’s shoulders and pulled him against him, shifting so that Gabriel’s back was against the side of his chest, and Gabriel gratefully laid his head on Sam’s shoulder. 

“I know you don’t want to hear this. To you they are the enemy. Cruel and capricious, but to me…”

Sam interrupted him, “They are your brothers. You have every right to love them,” he said softly. “And anytime you want to talk about them I’ll listen.” Sam could definitely see the parallels between him and Dean, and if Dean ever turned bad the way that Lucifer and Michael had…well Sam didn’t know if he would be able to do what Gabriel had done. Gabriel was stronger than he thought. 

“I just miss them. I miss the way they used to be. Before everything went to hell. Literally. Do you know Lucifer carried me everywhere, for years after I was able to walk on my own?”

Sam smiled, “Probably knew you’d run off and get into trouble if he put you down.”

Gabriel let out a barking laugh. “Probably.” He paused for a moment before he continued. “Michael was always more prim and proper, but he was very protective of all of us. There was once, after Raphael had learned to fly but before I had, we were playing in a tree in the garden and he shoved me out of it. I fell and broke my wing. I had never seen Michael so angry. He grabbed Raphael by the wing, like I’ve noticed human mother’s grab their children by their ear, and marched him off yelling at him while Lucifer healed me. That’s when they started teaching me. They didn’t want me getting hurt again,” he explained nostalgically, before turning bitter. “Then in the cage, they were the ones hurting me. They didn’t even care anymore. I think that was the worst part you know? Worse than the torture, was the fact that it was my own brothers doing it, my protectors, and they didn’t even care.”

Sam held Gabriel tighter at that and began running his hand up and down the archangel’s arm. “I’m sorry Gabriel. You should never have had to go through that.” Sam felt moisture gathering on his shoulder and figured that Gabriel was crying, not that he could blame him. 

Gabriel collected himself after a few moments and sat up away from Sam embarrassed and muttered, “Sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for Gabriel,” Sam said softly. “You think I didn’t spend weeks crying my eyes out after I got back?” he said keeping his arms open for the archangel to move back if he wanted to, and he did. 

They whiled away the rest of the afternoon sitting like that with Gabriel telling stories about his brothers and Sam telling stories about Dean. After they ate dinner and the sun set Sam turned to Gabriel and asked, “Do you think we could go watch the stars again?”

Gabriel gave Sam a bright smile, “Sure thing Samsquatch.”

“Just put me in bed if I fall asleep again?” Sam asked hopefully. Gabriel just laughed and nodded. 

As they lay down on the ground Sam laid shoulder to shoulder with Gabriel and tilted his head so that it rested against the archangel’s, the better to see where he was pointing, Sam told himself. “Ok so that’s Andromeda right there,” Gabriel said pointing. “That’s the first one I helped form…”


	7. Chapter 7

Sam woke the next morning to find Gabriel sprawled comfortably in his chair reading again. “Morning Samshine,” the archangel said brightly. 

Sam couldn’t help but smile at the archangel’s perkiness. Now that they were on speaking terms again Sam felt free to ask, “Whatcha reading?” Gabriel turned the book so that Sam could see the title. The 

Lord of the Rings trilogy. “Should’ve known you were a Tolkien fan,” Sam said jokingly.

“Hey what’s wrong with Tolkien?” Gabriel asked indignantly. 

Sam laughed at Gabriel’s offended expression. “Nothing. I like him too. I just meant that he’s kinda your style.” Sam thought for a moment before adding cheekily, “I’m still just trying to get over the sight of you reading in the first place.”

Gabriel grinned impishly at the hunter and threw the book, which turned into a pillow just before it hit Sam’s face. “I’ll have you know I actually enjoy reading,” Gabriel said snootily just before getting hit in the face with the book that was now a pillow. His shocked look was quickly replaced by one of pure mischief as he said, “You realize, of course, that this means war,” as he tackled the hunter on the bed pelting him with pillows he was pulling out of thin air. 

Sam was laughing helplessly as he cried, “Ok! Ok! I give! You win! Uncle!” Gabriel stopped and moved a bit away from Sam with a satisfied look on his face as Sam just kept laughing for a moment. Sam would never know what possessed him to do what he did next as he reached forward and wrapped his and around the back of Gabriel’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. He realized what he was doing as soon as their lips touched, but by then he didn’t really care enough to stop. 

Gabriel’s hand went to Sam’s chest to brace himself enough to get his elbow down before he ended up sprawled across the hunter and then his hand moved up to cup Sam’s face as he poured every emotion he had ever felt for the hunter into that brief moment. Neither of them moved to deepen the kiss and just enjoyed the feel of their lips moving together. It didn’t last very long but it was perfect and sweet. 

When it ended they were both smiling. Gabriel knew that it was a spur of the moment thing and that asking for more from the hunter right now would be pushing his luck too far, but he pressed one more happy peck to the hunter’s lips before getting up and saying, “Breakfast?”

Sam grinned and held his hand up for Gabriel to help him up. Gabriel did so rolling his eyes good-naturedly. Sam didn’t let go of his hand though as they headed for the kitchen. Over breakfast Gabriel said, “So I was thinking we could get out of here today. Anywhere in particular you want to go?”

Sam thought for a moment. “Maybe we could go visit Dean?” he asked hopefully. 

“Sure thing Samsquatch,” Gabriel readily agreed. 

Once breakfast was finished, and Sam warned Gabriel to pop them outside the door so they could knock like polite people, to which Gabriel rolled his eyes but grudgingly agreed, they were off to Dean’s. 

 

Lisa opened the door and happily wrapped Sam in a hug before turning and giving Gabriel a tentative hug too, which surprised the archangel, but he returned it jovially. She then opened the door wide and led them into the living room, where Dean was pouring over some old books. Sam belatedly remembered that he had been helping Bobby with the research before he bailed for a week and half. 

“Dean, we have visitors,” Lisa announced. 

Dean looked up, “Sammy!” He announced cheerfully. He turned to look at Gabriel wryly and turned back to Sam, “Is he housebroken?”

Gabriel barked out a laugh and said, “I don’t know. What do you think Sammy? Should I pee on the couch now or later?” 

Sam lost his battle with laughter at that and was followed by Dean and Lisa. Once they had stopped laughing Dean said, “Seriously Sammy. How are you? Everything good?” He was worried about how his brother was getting on with Gabriel. 

Sam, not wanting to hide anything from his brother, and figuring that while he was still figuring out his feelings they were basically married anyway so it didn’t matter, reached over and took Gabriel’s hand. “It’s all good Dean,” he said happily. 

Dean raised an eyebrow at his brother and his first thought was that the bond was pushing them together in a more emotional way. When he voiced that thought though it threw Sam for a loop. He hadn’t even considered that. He turned to Gabriel, “Is that possible?” he asked nervously, not sure how he felt about it if it was. 

“Nah kiddo. It doesn’t work that way. If it did we wouldn’t have spent the first week at each other’s throats,” he said wryly. 

“Good point,” Sam admitted.

“Was it that bad?” Dean asked. He wasn’t happy that his brother had had a tough time of it but he was glad to see that Sam was still his own person. 

Sam gave a short laugh. “It was pretty bad. Constant sniping and ignoring each other before I sat him down and we yelled it out, but we found some middle ground and we’re making it work,” he said   
giving Gabriel’s hand a squeeze at that last part so that he would know the he didn’t mean it in a bad way. 

Gabriel just shook his head and said self-deprecatingly, “You can be honest Sammy. I was being a total ass.”

Dean got all up in arms at that. “He rescued you from hell!” Dean said angrily. 

Gabriel did his best not to get upset but some of it bled through in his tone, “And I didn’t trap myself down there so he could turn around and throw his life away like this the first chance he got.”

Sam stepped in to play peacemaker. “Dean drop it. We worked it out. It’s all good now. Ok?”

Dean looked from his brother to the archangel and back and just said, “Fine.”

“So what are you researching?” Sam asked. 

“Trying to figure out how to kill a dragon actually.”

“Why?” Gabriel asked baffled. “They have been extinct for hundreds of years.”

“Yeah well not anymore apparently,” Dean said annoyed.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Sam said warily. “Do you know how to kill them?” he asked Gabriel.

“Well sure I know how. You just need a dragon sword. Getting one is a different story. They’ve all been lost over the centuries as far as I know.”

“Is there any way we can make one?” Sam asked.

“To make one you need the blood of a dragon, and to get the dragon you need the sword,” Gabriel said with a shrug. He thought for a moment and then he perked up. “I have an idea,” he said snapping his fingers as he and Sam disappeared. 

 

They landed on a dirt road leading to an ancient looking village. Sam looked down and saw that his clothes had been changed along with Gabriel’s to the knee length itchy shirts and leggings that were popular a thousand years ago. “Gabriel…” Sam said petulantly. He hated being thrown into something like this with no warning. 

“Don’t speak. You’ll be my mute friend,” Gabriel said as they started walking towards the village.

“Why?” Sam asked curiously.

“Because you don’t speak old Norse,” Gabriel said obviously. 

“Right. Mute. Got it,” Sam said nervously as the entered the outskirts of the village. 

Gabriel walked up to one of the men milling around outside and began speaking rapidly in what Sam could only assume was old Norse. The man seemed to be directing them to a building at the far end of the street. Sam could get something from the conversation by body language and figured that Gabriel was looking for someone or something. Sam was reminded that this was Gabriel’s old stomping ground. He fit in like a glove, laughing and talking merrily with everyone they saw as they made their way to the building the man had indicated which turned out to be some kind of tavern or inn. 

Gabriel walked up to the bartender and started asking questions before they went and sat down at a table. Gabriel whispered barely audible, “There is a regular here that claims to have a dragon sword. He should be in before long.” Sam just nodded. He was feeling very out of his element. He reached for Gabriel’s hand under the table. Gabriel just gave it a short reassuring squeeze before pushing his hand away. “Not here Sammy,” he whispered. 

“Sorry,” Sam muttered. It hadn’t dawned on him that two men being together may have been looked down on in this time and place. Hell for all he knew it could get them killed, not that Gabriel would let it get that far of course, but that was no reason for him to mess anything up by being careless. 

Gabriel somehow managed to charm everyone in the place, while still watching the door like a hawk, so he noticed when a man approached the bar and was directed over to their table. Gabriel began chattering away and the man looked at him skeptically and said something to which Gabriel just jerked his thumb towards Sam and said something in reply. The man looked Sam up and down appraisingly before nodding and they began talking back and forth more rapidly before Gabriel pulled a previously non-existent money bag from his waist and plopped it on the table as the man removed his sword and did the same. Gabriel looked appraisingly at the sword while the man counted the money before they shook hands, said something that Sam thought was probably goodbye or thanks or something and they went on their way. 

Once they reached left the village again and were far enough away that they wouldn’t be seen Gabriel snapped them back to Dean and Lisa’s house. 

“One Dragon Sword, as requested,” he said with a flourish holding it out to Dean as both occupants looked at them gob smacked. 

Sam looked down and groaned, “Can I have my normal clothes back please Gabriel?”

“Right. Sorry Samsquatch,” Gabriel said snapping as their clothes returned to normal.

“Do I want to know where you got this?” Dean asked.

“Norway 1024 AD. Bought it off a nice chap in a pub,” Gabriel said smugly. At their continued gob smacked expressions he said, “What? I remembered hearing a rumor about a dragon sword in the area around that time,” he said as if it should be obvious. 

Sam just laughed. “I thought for a minute that you were trying to trade me for it when you started gesturing at me and he started looking at me like that.”

Gabriel laughed at that too. “Nah Sam-a-lam. You’re worth a lot more than a sword,” he said through his laughter. “He was skeptical that I would be able to kill a dragon with it, but I told him that’s what you were for.”

Dean finally pulled himself together in time to laugh at that. Once they were back under control. Dean asked, “Hey Gabriel. You think you could do me another quick favor and jet that sword over to the hunters that are after this thing?”

“Sure thing Deano. Got an address?” When Dean told him the address and their motel room number Gabriel just snapped his fingers and the sword disappeared. 

Dean rolled his eyes and scrambled for the phone to let them know not to panic at the sword that miraculously appeared in their room. 

They spent the rest of the morning pleasantly chatting with Dean and Gabriel needling each other often, but there was no heat behind it so it was just amusing. When Lisa mentioned starting lunch Gabriel just snapped his fingers and there was a meal fit for a king on the table. Lisa smiled. “I like having you around Gabriel,” she said with a laugh.


	8. Chapter 8

After lunch Sam and Gabriel headed back to the cabin. Once they appeared Gabriel turned to Sam. “I’m sorry I pushed you away back there. In that time, it could be a sensitive subject. In some places it was okay, in others not so much and I couldn’t get an accurate read on that village.”

“It’s okay Gabriel. I get it. I should have thought of it myself.”

“I just don’t want you to think that I’m ashamed to be seen with your or anything because I’m not. Hell if we had been there for pleasure I would have told them to fuck off if they had a problem with it. I just didn’t want to mess up our best chance to get that sword.”

Sam cut Gabriel off with a quick kiss. “I know Gabriel,” he said softly. Gabriel sighed with relief. He never wanted to push Sam away. “There is something else we need to talk about though,” Sam said tentatively as he sat down on the couch. He hoped Gabriel would be okay with it. 

Gabriel sat down nervously. “Okay. Shoot.”

“I need to get back to the real world. Don’t get me wrong. I love it here. It’s beautiful, but I can’t leave everything piled on Dean any more. You saw how frazzled he was. I need to be somewhere I can help out, at least with research.”

Gabriel was relieved that it was something easily fixed. The way Sam had approached it like a land mine had him worried for a minute. “Sure Samsquatch. No problem. I actually have an idea about that.” Sam gestured for him to continue so he did. “Well there is this place I know of. It’s supposed to be a treasure trove of research materials and artifacts of the supernatural world. The largest storehouse in history in fact. Problem is I can’t get in, but I’d be willing to bet you can.”

“Why can’t you get in? And why would you think I can?” He had about ten other questions from that statement but those seemed like the most important. 

“Well it was created by a secret society that was later killed off. They were basically the lore keepers and researchers of the supernatural world. The place is warded to the gills, but they were big on bloodlines so would probably have left a way for their blood to get in. There are only two surviving members descended from them. You and Dean. Once you’re in, you should be able to invite me in. The warding didn’t feel hostile to me, more like just warning. Like I’d need permission to enter.”

“Wait you’re saying Dean and I are descended from some secret society that studied monsters?” Sam said trying to wrap his head around it. 

“When we said that you were the vessels because of your bloodlines that’s part of what we meant. See the merging of the best hunters in the world, the Campbells, and the premier Men of Letters family, the Winchesters was a match made in heaven. Literally. The brains and the brawn if you will.”

“Wait so Dad was…” 

“No. Your grandfather was though. John was just a little boy when the attack came that killed them all.”

“Dad said that his father ran off when he was a kid,” Sam said confused. 

“There was a fire that covered up all evidence of what happened and an explosion when it hit the ingredients they kept at their clubhouse. No one knew who the members were so no one had any way to identify any bodies, not that there was much left to identify anyway,” Gabriel shrugged.

“So this storehouse you mentioned. That wasn’t where the attack was?” Sam asked. 

“No. The storehouse is more of a secret bunker type thing. A backup plan for if they ever needed to hide out.”

“Ok and you’re sure that no one is there now?”

“I overlaid their wards with some of my own to let me know if anyone came by about thirty years ago. No one ever has.”

“And how am I supposed to get in?”

“Once we’re close I can see how the wards react to you and guide you through it. Of course this is all just supposition. You may not be able to get in at all, but I think it’s worth a shot. I knew the Men of Letters, and that place has to be a goldmine.”

“Well sure. Let’s give it a try then,” Sam said grinning. 

Gabriel snapped his fingers and they were in front of something that looked like a maintenance tunnel access. “This is it?” Sam asked scrunching up his nose. 

“Looks can be deceiving Samsquatch. This place is warded so tight even my father might have to put in an effort to get in there. The wards resonate over the whole town even, which is why you’ve probably never been here. No monsters in the area.”

“Wow,” is all Sam could say to that. “So what now?” 

Gabriel paced for a moment and seemed to be studying the building in front of them. “Well there is a place for a key but since we obviously don’t have one we will have to use the failsafe way in. You see that worn spot in the middle of the door?” At Sam’s nod Gabriel said, “Ok, cut your hand and put it there.” Sam looked at him curiously. “I told you they were big on blood bindings,” Gabriel said with a shrug. 

When Sam did as Gabriel said some writing appeared above the door. Sam couldn’t read it though. Gabriel just laughed. “Oh they’re good.”

“What does it say?” Sam asked. 

“Mankind it mars, speech it hinders, yet speech it will inspire,” Gabriel read. “It was one of Odin’s favorite riddles, written in old Norse runes of course. Odin used his riddles to separate the worthy, just like they are doing here.”

“So what’s the answer?” Sam asked impatiently. 

“You’re the one they’re testing. You tell me,” Gabriel said amused. He would tell the hunter if he couldn’t get it, but he wanted to see if Sam could figure it out.   
Sam sighed heavily and thought about it for a while before saying, “Alcohol, but wait they called it something else back then. Ale?” he said tentatively waiting to see if the door would open. It didn’t.

“Hmm,” Gabriel said thoughtfully. “That was the correct answer so there must be more to it.” Gabriel though for a moment before he said triumphantly, “Heidrek! That’s right. The men of letters valued books and the most famous accounting of that riddle was to King Heidrek. They probably want his exact response. Let me see if I can remember it…Ah yes. Ale mars the wits of many a man, and many are the more talkative when ale gets the upper hand, but with some the tongue gets all entangled so that no words come out.”

As Gabriel finished speaking the door creaked open a crack and Sam slowly pushed it further open and then his jaw dropped in shock. He didn’t even have words. “Sammy,” Gabriel said pulling Sam’s mind back to the task at hand. Sam turned to look at the archangel who was holding a hand out. Sam took it and pulled Gabriel inside the door with him. Gabriel shuddered a bit and said, “Ooh. Tingly.” But then he had to hurry and catch up with Sam as he was exploring through all the rooms and when he reached the library, Gabriel had just enough notice to snap up a chair behind the hunter before he lost his footing. 

“Gabriel,” he breathed in awe. “This is…”

“A gold mine?” Gabriel finished with a laugh when he realized that Sam had lost his words. 

“Incredible,” Sam managed to finish. It was a few minutes before Sam found his legs again and got up and started walking around the room. Gabriel was ready with the quick snap for the chair though when Sam found some of the more priceless books. Gabriel was trying very hard not to laugh at the hunter, but after the third time he materialized the chair he just couldn’t help it anymore and the laughter came spilling out. He needn’t have tried so hard though, because Sam didn’t even seem to notice. Gabriel could have been annoyed that he was being ignored, but settled on being proud of himself for bringing Sam somewhere that he obviously loved so much. 

Once Sam had lovingly caressed all the books Gabriel spoke up again and said, “You know there are four more floors to this place right?”

Sam whipped around and looked at the archangel as if trying to figure out if he was serious. “Huh?” he said inelegantly. 

Gabriel snorted. Looks like he broke his hunter. He walked over and patted Sam’s arm soothingly. “It’s okay Sammy. Let’s just go have dinner. We can see more tomorrow,” he said leading Sam from the room towards the kitchen he had noticed when Sam was sticking his head in all the rooms. 

By the time they had finished eating Sam had snapped out of his trance. “Gabriel. Thank you. This is great. I don’t even know where to begin.”

Gabriel smiled brightly at the hunter. “Why don’t you start with this?” Gabriel said handing him a book that he had grabbed on the way out of the library. Sam took the book that had no title, just a symbol on the front. “It’s their manifesto, guidebook, rulebook, whatever you want to call it. If you’re going to be a Man of Letters that’s a good place to start.” Gabriel was hoping that Sam would be a Man of Letters and give up hunting. He was much better suited for that aspect anyway and it was a lot less dangerous.

Before Sam could open it and start reading though Gabriel said, “Why don’t we go pick a bedroom first so I can work on getting it fixed up before it gets too late.”

“Fixed up?” Sam asked. 

“Did you even look at those rooms? They are small and cramped not to mention musty,” Gabriel said wrinkling his nose in distaste. 

“Diva,” Sam muttered under his breath as he got up and headed towards where he found the bedrooms. 

“I heard that Samsquatch,” Gabriel said as he got up and followed him. 

“I meant for you to,” Sam called back laughing. 

When Gabriel had finished with the room, he had essentially knocked out a wall and merged two of the rooms. With all the warding Gabriel wasn’t able to expand the space like he normally would. The small rickety bed was replaced with a plush king sized bed, the desk was replaced with a much nicer, though still antique desk, and he had added a recliner for himself for while Sam was sleeping. The bookshelves were fine if in need of a little repair which Gabriel was able to do with a snap along with getting rid of all the dust and mildew that had accumulated over the decades that this place was abandoned. 

Once he was finished, Gabriel threw himself into the recliner and snapped up his own Lord of the Rings trilogy and continued reading. Sam didn’t even notice the changes until he began yawning a couple hours later and said “Wow. It looks great in here.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “So nice of you to notice.” 

Sam just let out a chuckle and walked over to Gabriel’s chair trying not to convey how nervous he was as he leaned down and kissed the archangel. Again neither one moved to deepen it and it was short, but just as sweet as their first. It was the first time that Sam had kissed him with forethought. Both times before had just been spur of the moment reactions. “Goodnight Gabriel,” Sam said softly as he pulled away. 

“Goodnight Sammy,” Gabriel said just as softly savoring the moment.


	9. Chapter 9

When Sam woke up the next morning he and Gabriel made their way to the kitchen for breakfast and then back to the library where Sam finished reading the manifesto before he just started browsing. Most of their days went like that. Only leaving the library long enough to eat. Gabriel figured that he had made Sam do what he wanted for that first week when he was being such a jerk so it was only fair to give Sam some time now.

Sam would occasionally take Gabriel’s hand or pull the archangel against him or lean against the archangel himself. He kissed him once or twice a day too, just the same quick chaste kisses, but Gabriel never initiated anything. He squeezed Sam’s hand, and kissed back, and curled up with the hunter when Sam initiated it, but other than that he kept his distance and Sam was getting annoyed. 

After about a week of this Sam was fed up. They were standing in the kitchen when he lost it. “Ok what gives Gabriel?” he asked heatedly.

“Huh?” Gabriel asked inelegantly. He had no idea what Sam was talking about.

“You said you loved me before, but you don’t do anything about it. I keep reaching out, but you just keep your distance!” he said frustrated. 

Gabriel blinked for a moment realizing his mistake. In trying to give the hunter time, turned out he was pushing him away. The archangel suddenly moved towards the hunter and pulled Sam into a kiss, licking along Sam’s lower lip for permission and the hunter opened so he began exploring Sam’s mouth with his tongue. Sam’s hands moved to Gabriel’s hips and pulled him close as his own tongue joined the dance. They didn’t separate until they needed air. 

He leaned his forehead against Sam’s both of them breathing heavily. “I’m sorry Sam. I didn’t realize you would see it that way. I know you’re trying to figure out your feelings and I didn’t want to push anything.”

Sam just huffed. “We really need to work on our communication,” he said wryly. 

Gabriel laughed. “Apparently.” He kissed Sam again. Shorter this time, but just as deeply. “So what say we go out tonight?”

“You mean like a date?” Sam asked curiously.

“Sure thing Samsquatch,” Gabriel said with a lopsided smile. 

Sam grinned and said, “Okay sounds good.”

After breakfast they hit the library again. Gabriel pretended to read, but really he was lost in thought trying to plan the perfect date. 

Around four thirty that afternoon, Gabriel put down his book and turned to Sam. “Ready to go Samsquatch?”

“Huh? Um…I should probably change and stuff. Where are we going?” Sam said wondering why he was so nervous. 

Gabriel just snapped his fingers and they were both in tuxedos. “No need Sam-a-lam,” he said with a smirk. 

“Um…ok…yeah I guess I’m ready then?”

Gabriel snapped again and they appeared in an opulent entryway. Gabriel didn’t want Sam to see the outside yet. He wanted him to be hit with the full effect. He linked his arm with Sam’s and opened the doors in front of him and Sam gasped. “Gabriel…Where are we?”

“Top of the Eiffel Tower,” Gabriel explained. “Just because I can’t leave you doesn’t mean I can’t sent clones out to make arrangements,” he said with a smug smirk. He had booked the entire place just for them for three hours and asked the staff to give them a few minutes to enjoy the view first. He, or rather his clone, had told them that he had finally gotten a date with the man he loved and wanted everything to be perfect and no one understood love like the French. Especially when there was plenty of money involved. 

Sam gawked for a few minutes and then a server came over to seat them. Gabriel reached across the table and tangled his fingers with Sam’s as they perused the menu. Gabriel chose the wine, of course since Sam had no idea what was good. They made light conversation over their meal and when they were finished, Gabriel asked Sam to dance. “Gabriel I can’t…I don’t know how to dance,” Sam said embarrassed. 

“No worries Sambo. Just let me lead. You’ll get the hang of it I’m sure,” Gabriel said confidently.

“Ok just…don’t laugh at me?” 

“I promise,” he said sincerely getting up and holding his hand out to the hunter, who tentatively took it and was led to the dance floor. It took a few songs, but Gabriel was right and Sam did get the hang of it. Hunter reflexes lent themselves well to many different aspects of life. He wasn’t exactly as effortless and graceful as Gabriel, but he had the mechanics down and was soon able to carry on a conversation without missing a step. 

Once he had relaxed and gotten into the swing of this whole dancing thing Sam was really starting to enjoy himself. He spent most of the time when they weren’t talking and some of the time when they were, lost in Gabriel’s sparkling golden eyes. He realized he was really falling hard for the archangel. At one point he shifted the hand on Gabriel’s shoulder so that he could reach up and stroke Gabriel’s cheek with his thumb, causing Gabriel to beam at him and pull him closer as he leaned up and pressed a short kiss to the hunter’s lips. That did cause Sam to miss a step, but he picked it back up with a chuckle. 

“How are you such a good dancer Gabriel?” he asked in awe.

“Well when you’ve had as much time as I have you have to fill it with something,” Gabriel gave the easy answer first before launching into a story about dancing at King Henry I’s wedding; the first big event he had been to where there had been this sort of dancing involved. “There have been countless forms of dancing over the millennia, and I haven’t learned them all, but I have learned plenty,” he finished with a smile. 

Sam laughed and began quizzing Gabriel on the different kinds of dancing that he knew of. “Polka?”

“Sure. Very upbeat. Lot’s of fun.”

“Clogging?”

“Most definitely.”

“Ballet?”

“Never really interested me,” Gabriel said with a shrug.

“There’s a shocker,” Sam said sarcastically with a smile.

“Not really the kind of thing you do casually for fun,” Gabriel said agreeing with the hunter. 

“So you just dance casually for fun?” Sam said teasing the archangel. 

“Usually,” Gabriel said in a tone implying that this time was different.

“And today?” Sam asked catching that implication. 

“Well this is fun of course,” he said with a bright smile before his expression turned serious. “But I think this might just be the most important dance of my life,” he muttered quietly. 

“More important than dancing with Queen Matilda?” Sam asked curiously. 

“Most definitely,” Gabriel said looking up and getting lost in Sam’s eyes. 

Sam’s breath caught as Gabriel’s eyes met his and he could see all the love and adoration shining there. He couldn’t help the words that tumbled from his mouth, but he wouldn’t have taken them back if he could have. “I love you Gabriel.”

This time it was Gabriel that lost a step and stumbled a bit, but he righted himself quickly and pressed his lips to Sam’s immediately deepening the kiss. He did stay mindful of the fact that they were in public, and as the only guests, pretty much the center of attention for the whole staff, and so kept it short and tasteful. “I love you Sammy. So much.”

Sam gave him another short chaste kiss as they continued dancing around the room. “Definitely the most important dance of my life,” Gabriel murmured to himself and Sam smiled. 

It was just two songs later that he felt a tap on his shoulder. Their hostess informed them that their time was up and they had other guests waiting. Gabriel thanked her in rapid French. Sam knew a little bit of French but they were talking too fast for him to follow. “Well Samsquatch. Looks like our time is up here. Ready for phase two?”

“Um Sure?” Sam said warily, not sure what the archangel could possibly have up his sleeve to top this, but definitely willing to go along for the ride. 

Thinking that Sam might like to see the Eiffel Tower from the outside Gabriel led them down and out and crossed a little side street where they disappeared from, arriving in Venice just in time for a sunset gondola ride. Time zones meant nothing when you were an archangel and could bend time to your will obviously. Gabriel had figured that after an hour or two of dancing Sam might like the chance to rest his feet and still get some sightseeing done so this was the perfect option not to mention incredibly romantic. 

“Pulling out all the stops huh Gabriel,” Sam said amused at the lengths the archangel was going to. 

Gabriel gave a little chuckle. “Of course Sam-a-lam. This is my big chance to sweep you off your feet after all.”

Sam gave a short laugh as well and just said, “Well you succeeded,” as he leaned down and kissed Gabriel. 

“Good,” Gabriel said brushing Sam’s hair away from his eyes and running his thumb along the hunter’s cheekbone. 

Gabriel curled around Sam during the ride as they were serenaded and Sam took in the sights. Sam kept a hand around Gabriel’s side however and spent the ride running his thumb up and down over it as Gabriel’s head rested on his shoulder. Gabriel didn’t really care about the sights. He had seen it all before. All he cared about was the tall hunter next to him. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Sam loved him. He had never thought he would get so lucky. To think that three weeks ago he was trapped in hell, and now he was so happy he felt like he might explode. 

Once the ride was over Gabriel hopped out and held out a hand to steady Sam as he got out. “One more stop Samsquatch,” Gabriel said happily as they started walking to find a secluded enough area to disappear from. Sure Gabriel could made sure that no one saw them disappear, but felt like giving Sam a chance to see a little more of the city first. 

Their next stop was a small gelato shop in Italy that served the best gelato that Gabriel had ever had, and that was saying a lot. The couple shared a small table and desert was punctuated with feeding each other tastes of what the other was having, many small kisses, and lots of laughter. All in all it was a perfect evening.


	10. Chapter 10

Gabriel and Sam returned back to the bunker and Sam swept Gabriel up in deep passionate kiss. "This was the perfect night Gabriel. Thank you," Sam said resting his forehead against the archangel’s after he pulled up for air. 

“I’m glad I was able to show you a good time Sammy. I love you,” Gabriel said softly. 

“I love you too Gabriel,” Sam said as Gabriel pulled him in for another kiss. 

After a few minutes Sam’s hands moved to start unbuttoning Gabriel’s jacket, and Gabriel knew where this was going. He grabbed Sam’s wrists and said, “Sam we don’t have to.” He knew how uncomfortable Sam was last time and that Sam didn’t really have any experience. He wanted to make sure Sam was sure of that he wanted before things went too far. 

“You don’t want me?” Sam asked curiously.

“Shit Sam. Of course I want you,” Gabriel said as he pulled Sam’s hand down gently giving him plenty of time to pull away if he wanted to and rested it lightly against his erection. “You can feel how much I want you, but I don’t want you to do anything you aren’t completely comfortable with.”

“I want this Gabriel,” Sam assured him. Gabriel looked at him searchingly and Sam said, “I mean yeah I’m a little nervous and maybe even a bit scared, but I want this. Really.”

Gabriel didn’t have the strength to question anymore but…”You say stop, we stop Sam. No questions asked. Okay?”

Sam just nodded and crashed his lips into the archangels while he proceeded to unbutton Gabriel’s jacket and slide it off his shoulders as Gabriel did the same for Sam’s, before they began unbuttoning each other’s shirts, still joined at the lips. Once both of their shirts and ties were lying on the floor Gabriel pressed himself up against the hunter moaning at the skin contact. Sam’s hands were roaming firmly up and down Gabriel’s back and Gabriel’s mouth moved to press small kisses down Sam’s jawline moving down to his neck pulling a moan from the hunter. 

Gabriel moved his hands from the small of Sam’s back to his hips and pulled them forward rubbing their erections together, drawing even more pleasured sounds from the hunter. Encouraged by this Gabriel gently pushed Sam back on the bed falling on top of him and straddling the hunters lap as he ground his hips down. Sam’s hands moved to Gabriel’s ass as he tried to get more friction. Gabriel knew they were going to have to speed this up or he wasn’t going to last, so he moved his lips down a little more to nip lightly at Sam’s collarbone and continued down his chest, pausing to flick his nipples with his tongue. Just because he was rushing didn’t mean he couldn’t still make it good after all. 

Once he was kissing down Sam’s stomach he moved his hands to Sam’s pants and paused looking up at the hunter who nodded. Gabriel smiled and undid Sam’s pants and lifted his hips to slide them off, before licking firmly up the underside of Sam’s swollen cock, drawing a low man from the hunter, before taking him in his mouth. Sam’s hands came down and tangled in Gabriel’s hair and the archangel hummed approvingly, the sensation causing Sam’s hips to jerk up. 

Satisfied that he had the hunter good and distracted, Gabriel slid a now lubed finger and teased around Sam’s entrance, giving Sam the chance to stop him if he wanted to. When he didn’t, Gabriel gently slid it in flicking it against Sam’s prostate drawing a keening moan from the hunter. Gabriel was almost in pain by now from holding back. He reached down with his free hand and expertly undid his pants and slid them down enough that he could take his own cock in his hand. 

Once he had three fingers pumping in and out of the keening hunter, Gabriel removed them and moved off the bed long enough to step out of his pants, and then he was back and lifting Sam’s legs. He lined himself up with Sam’s entrance and pressed forward slowly and gently, hoping that Sam wouldn’t stop him again, because he didn’t know if he even could stop at this point. Once he was fully seated he bent down and kissed Sam deeply. “I love you my Sammy,” he whispered. 

“I love you my Gabriel,” Sam whispered back bringing a hand up to cup Gabriel’s face, and Gabriel began to move. They found a good rhythm pretty quickly and Gabriel peppered Sam’s neck and shoulders with kisses as they moved together. It was much sooner than Gabriel would have wanted when he felt himself getting close to the edge so he put enough space between them to take Sam’s length in his hand and started pumping in time with his thrusts. He tried to wait for Sam. He really did. But it didn’t end up mattering too much as the feel of Gabriel pulsing as he spilled his seed in the hunter was enough to send Sam over the edge too. 

Gabriel stilled over the hunter catching his breath and then leaned down for a slow sweet kiss as he slid out and shifted to stretch out beside Sam. “That should have been our first time,” he said softly as he lay his head on Sam’s shoulder and draped his arm across his stomach. 

“Why don’t we just pretend it was,” Sam said wrapping his arm around Gabriel’s back and pressing a kiss to his head. 

They lay there satisfied for a few minutes until Sam yawned. Gabriel started to get up and said, “I should let you get some sleep.”

Sam tightened his arm around the archangel. “Stay?” he asked hopefully. Gabriel smiled, kissed the hunter, and snapped his fingers bringing the blanket from underneath them over top of them as he settled back down for the night. Gabriel still couldn’t believe how lucky he was. 

When Gabriel noticed Sam start to stir the next morning he pressed a soft kiss to the hunter’s lips, rousing him fully. When Sam’s hazel eyes opened to meet Gabriel’s gold ones sparkling with mirth Gabriel said, “Good morning Samshine,” as he usually did. 

It took Sam a second to register that they were curled up together naked in bed and the memories from last night came rushing back and he grinned. “Morning Gabe.”

Gabriel laughed, “Gabe is it now?”

“How many nicknames do you have for me?” Sam asked pointedly.

“Lots,” Gabriel said perkily as he pressed a quick peck to Sam’s lips and hopped out of bed. “C’mon. Breakfast. Don’t forget Dean’s coming later.”

“Shit. I did forget. We didn’t get any of the rooms ready for him,” Sam said starting to panic. Dean was coming to spend the weekend and check out the bunker. 

Gabriel laughed at Sam’s panic. “Archangel remember? It’ll just take a couple snaps to have everything ready.”

Sam laughed at himself too. “Right. Obviously,” he said as he rolled his eyes. 

Dean had related to them over the phone that he refused to fly angel airways with a laughing Lisa in the background so he was driving all the way from Indiana. It wasn’t really that far compared with how far the brothers were used to driving, but Sam supposed he was just getting lazy having an archangel at his beck and call. 

They were just getting ready to sit down for lunch when they heard the alarm for the door go off. That would really come in handy if they were on the lower floors Sam thought, though he still winced. Gabriel flew over to the wall and hit a button. “What was that?” Sam asked as they walked towards the door. 

“I noticed that there is one of those in each room. Apparently they turn off the alarm so everyone knows someone’s getting the door.”

Sam opened the door to find his brother, duffle bag on his shoulder. “So this little hole in the wall is seriously ‘the most amazing place you’ve ever seen’?” Dean said skeptically. 

Sam echoed Gabriel’s words to him the day they found this place. “Looks can be deceiving, Dean. Come on in,” Sam said as he stepped back out of the way and both occupants laughed at Dean’s gobsmacked face as he got his first look at the place. 

“Dude this is just the entry hall,” Sam said smugly. 

“Don’t feel bad Dean. Our first time here I kept having to snap a chair behind Sam so his ass wouldn’t hit the floor,” Gabriel said conspiratorially. 

Sam smacked the archangel in the chest, “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Dean started laughing at them. “Better listen to him Gabriel. He’s abusive.”

Gabriel got a pretend wounded puppy look on his face. “Yes dear. Sorry dear,” he said in a placating manner. He ducked under Sam’s next swing and stole a kiss before darting away giggling, the brothers following him, one laughing and the other shaking his head ruefully. 

Gabriel led them straight to the kitchen. “Lunch first. Tour after,” he said plopping himself down at the table. 

“Man, even the kitchen is impressive,” Dean said whistling as he and Sam sat down and started piling their plates. 

On the tour, Dean wasn’t quite as awestruck as Sam had been his first time, but he was still pretty impressed. Gabriel’s favorite reaction was when they got to the lowest level and he hit the lever to retract the shelves. “Dude! You have a dungeon? Seriously? This is awesome!” The reactions to the gym and pool that Gabriel installed were pretty impressive too though. They had taken one of the larger storage rooms on the second level and moved everything to other areas and Gabriel put a large swimming pool in the center with gym equipment surrounding it. That way Gabriel could swim and play while Sam worked out before joining his bonded in the pool. Gabriel had done that on their second day there as a surprise for Sam. The rare times they weren’t in the library they were in the gym.

Once the tour was over they piled into the living room and Dean brought up the real reason he was there. “Ok so I got a visit from Cas a few days ago. Apparently with Michael in the cage there is a bit of a power struggle in heaven,” Dean started.

Gabriel leaned back on the couch and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me guess. Raphael.” Sam shuddered. He had heard enough of Gabriel’s stories about his youngest older brother’s cruelty to know he didn’t want Raphael in charge of anything. 

“Yeah. Cas is trying to fight him, and has some support, but guys. Raphael is hell bent on springing the cage and restarting the apocalypse…and Cas is losing. Badly.”

“Like hell he is. I will put a stop to this madness. That cage will stay locked forever if I have anything to say about it,” Gabriel said heatedly as he stood and began pacing. Then he stopped and looked at Sam scared. “I’ll have to take you with me,” he added in a small voice. 

Sam stood and put a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t let you go alone even if it weren’t for the bond,” he said firmly. 

“Sam…” Gabriel pleaded before he was cutoff.

“Gabriel no. It needs to be done. Nothing can hurt me that can’t hurt you remember? I’ll be fine.”

Gabriel deflated and nodded so Sam sat back on the couch and Gabriel sprawled across his lap before turning to Dean. “Do you think this is something that needs to be handled immediately or can we enjoy our weekend first?”

“I’m…um…not sure. I’ll call Cas and we can ask him,” Dean said.

Before he could call for Cas though, Sam stopped him. “Don’t do that from in here. You’ll have to go outside and bring him in.”

“Why?” Dean asked curiously. They hadn’t explained the intricacies of the warding yet. 

“Because he can’t get in here due to the wards and if he tries to bust through, which he just might be crazy enough to do he will get fried,” Gabriel said. “I couldn’t even get in here until Sam pulled me through the wards. 

“Nice,” Dean said approvingly, glad that his brother was in such a safe place at least. So Dean went outside and called Cas. Once the angel arrived he invited him in, but Cas stopped just short of the door. 

“I do not think I can come in Dean. Something seems to be blocking me. Give me a moment and I’ll see if I can get through,” He said tilting his head to the side in concentration. 

He started though when he heard three distinct voices yell “No!” Then Gabriel said, “Try grabbing his hand and pulling him through. That’s how Sam got me past the wards.”

Dean rolled his eyes and grabbed Cas’ hand and pulled him through successfully. “That was an…intriguing sensation,” Cas said as he made it inside. “I must compliment you on your warding. That is very impressive.”

“Thanks Cas, but we didn’t do it. This is an old Men of Letters hideout,” Sam said. 

“We’ve just commandeered it in their absence,” Gabriel added. “Come on in. Take a load off,” he said gesturing for Cas to follow them as they went back towards the living room.

“I don’t understand that reference,” Cas said confused as he followed them. 

Dean chuckled. “It means sit down and relax.”


	11. Chapter 11

Once Cas had sat down Gabriel walked by him and patted his shoulder, surreptitiously healing him from the injuries he could tell his little brother was trying to hide from Dean. Cas shot him a grateful look and then raised an eyebrow as Gabriel sprawled against Sam’s lap pecking him on the lips. “It seems that I have missed a great deal while I was gone.”

Dean hadn’t even told him that Sam had gotten out of the cage or that Gabriel was back. He had been waiting to ask his questions until the appropriate time, but he hoped this was the appropriate time. Gabriel started the story, “Well Dad brought me back to life about six months after I died,”

Sam interrupted him still annoyed about the next part, “And then the idiot marched straight to the cage and traded himself for me.”

“Well I couldn’t just leave you there,” Gabriel shot back. 

Cas had learned from watching Sam and Dean that sometimes you just had to interrupt before an argument started. “So how did you get out brother?” 

“This idiot made a deal with Father to bind himself to me in order to pull me out,” Gabriel said pointing to Sam. 

Sam smiled. “And it was the best deal I’ve ever made,” he said pressing a kiss to Gabriel’s temple. 

Gabriel smiled at him then said, “Just because it turned out for the best doesn’t mean it wasn’t a stupid idea.”

Dean jumped in before they got any more affectionate with each other. “And so here we are.”

“Now it’s your turn little bro. What’s up in heaven?”

Cas looked at Gabriel confused, “Surely you remember what is in heaven, Gabriel.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes and said, “I meant what’s going on?”

“Raphael seeks to release Michael and Lucifer from the cage and restart the apocalypse. I am attempting to stop him, but it is not going very well.”

“Does he have any ideas on how to open the cage do you know?” Gabriel asked him. 

“I do not,” Cas said. 

“Can he open the cage?” Sam asked Gabriel.

“As far as I know it should be impossible assuming you guys destroyed the rings,” he looked questioningly at the hunters and Dean looked guilty. 

“Dean…” Sam said warningly. 

“I wasn’t going to do it! I just didn’t want to give up the option,” Dean explained.

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose again muttering about idiotic hunters. “Please tell me you at least have them with you?” He said wearily. 

“They’re in the car,” Dean said, and he went to get them after Gabriel asked him to. 

Gabriel handed him back Death’s ring. “He’ll want that back and one ring is no threat,” he explained before turning to Sam. “This isn’t going to be pleasant for you Sammy so just hold on tight and remember. I won’t let you fall.”

“What do you…” but then they were gone. 

They were back a moment later and Sam looked completely frazzled and his hair looked like he’d been caught in a tornado. 

“Where did you go?” Dean asked curiously. 

“Threw them in a volcano. You okay Sammy?” 

“A little more warning next time please!” Sam said exasperatedly once he found his voice.

“I did warn you,” Gabriel said matter-of-factly. 

“I mean tell me what to expect like oh by the way we’ll be appearing a few feet in the air and plummeting a few hundred feet in freefall while I drop the damn rings!”

“Okay. I’ll do that next time,” Gabriel said shrugging as Dean was fighting his laughter. 

“Aargh,” Sam cried throwing up his hands and collapsing back on the couch and Dean couldn’t hold it in anymore and started laughing. Dean noticed the corners of Gabriel’s mouth twitching, but he was too much of a master at this to let Sam know he was putting him on. 

“So anyway, now that the rings are kaput, there shouldn’t be any way for him to open the cage, but I wouldn’t put it past him to find something somewhere. At least I’ve bought us some time. We can have a nice family weekend and I’ll deal with Raphael on Monday,” Gabriel said as though the matter were settled. 

Cas looked at Gabriel uncomfortably and when Gabriel asked him what was bugging him he said, “I have troops in battle against Raphael’s forces as we speak.”

“It’s gone that far into all out war?” Gabriel asked disgustedly. At Cas’ nod Gabriel said, “Pull your troops back. Have them stand down and lay low for a few days. It’ll serve to make Raphael nervous wondering what you’re planning which can only help me.”

“That is a good plan brother,” Cas said. “I will return shortly.”

Sam looked at Gabriel curiously. “What?” Gabriel asked.

“Since when are you a tactician?” Sam asked him. 

“I’m an archangel. We were made to lead armies,” Gabriel said with a shrug. Sam just looked at him impressed. 

“Will you be able to beat Raphael?” Dean asked tentatively, remembering Gabriel’s reticence to fight Lucifer. 

“I hope it doesn’t come to a fight. I have no wish to harm any of my brothers. Even a bastard like Raphael, but I can if I need to. Don’t worry. I was never as strong as Michael or Lucifer, but I’m more than a match for Raphael, especially if I don’t fight fair,” Gabriel said strongly and Sam could almost see the warrior shining through. 

The conversation was interrupted when Cas returned. And Gabriel said, “Ok now that everything is settled for the moment, all talks of war and fighting are suspended for the rest of the weekend.”

At that they headed into the kitchen to have dinner. It had been a very long afternoon. Most of it spent just on the tour of the place for Dean. Gabriel snapped up a huge dinner that probably would have fed twice as many people as there were, even with all the large appetites at the table. Between the three of them, they even got Cas to eat. 

After dinner Gabriel dragged them all to the pool, and after shoving Dean in fully clothed, snapped his fingers to give all of them swim trunks. His were god, Sam’s green, Cas’ black, and Dean’s pink. No matter how much Dean protested Gabriel refused to change them. Right up until Dean threatened to take them off and swim naked anyway. After that Gabriel caved and changed them to match Sam’s. 

Cas just did his best to stay out of the way as the two humans teamed up against the archangel. One of them would distract him while the other would swim under and grab his ankles. After that happened a couple times he got better at avoiding it. Then Sam grabbed him in a searing kiss and opened his arms when he felt Dean tap his leg and Gabriel got dunked again. The archangel surfaced sputtering to find two laughing hunters. “I cry foul! That was just playing dirty!” he protested. 

“You’re just mad that we got you,” Dean said through his laughter. 

Gabriel’s face broke out in an evil smirk. “That’s ok. I can play dirty too,” he drawled as he snapped and suddenly there was a tidal wave that broke over the whole pool, and pulled both hunters and the angel trying to stay out of it, underwater. They surfaced to find a dry and smirking Gabriel standing at the side of the pool. 

Dean made sure to betray nothing on his face as he sent a silent prayer to Cas who disappeared. Gabriel just assumed he didn’t want to play anymore and wasn’t expecting to be shoved in by Cas who had reappeared behind him. He surfaced sputtering again. “Oh so that’s how it’s gonna be huh? Well this means war!”

Now that Cas was on their side, the hunters fared a little better than they expected, but they still got trounced by the fully powered archangel in the room. Dean protested when Sam tried to switch sides but it didn’t matter anyway because Gabriel said, “I don’t think so Samsquatch. After that dirty trick with the kiss you get no mercy from me.”

They were all laughing hysterically by the time they pulled themselves out of the pool. Gabriel dried them with a snap of his fingers and Dean headed to bed, Cas to check out the library, and Sam and Gabriel went to their room. Gabriel hadn’t replaced their normal clothes for a reason. 

Once they were alone Gabriel slipped his hand behind Sam’s neck and pulled him in for a slow deep kiss as his other hand trailed down the hunter’s chest. He slowly reached down and pushed Sam’s trunks down revealing that he was just as hard as Gabriel himself was. After Gabriel had removed his own shorts he pulled Sam into the bed on top of him. 

Once Sam realized what Gabriel wanted he started getting nervous again. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” Sam said worried that he was going to hurt Gabriel. 

“You have to learn sometime right?” Gabriel said with a reassuring smile. He wanted Sam inside him. Wanted to feel his hunter moving in him. 

Sam just crashed his lips back into Gabriel’s feeling the rush from the trust that Gabriel was giving him and the power that Gabriel was putting in his hands. He pulled Gabriel’s bottom lip in his teeth drawing a whimper of need from the archangel. Sam moved his mouth to lick and suck down the archangel’s throat, punctuating with little bites as Gabriel keened beneath him. Fuck if Sam didn’t know just how to get him going. 

Sam continued down his chest and stomach kissing, licking, and nipping at the sensitive flesh. When he reached Gabriel’s cock, he darted out his tongue and lightly licked across the tip, tasting the archangel’s pre-cum, and drawing a low moan from Gabriel. He teased his tongue around the tip for a bit driving Gabriel insane with need before, with no warning, he wrapped his mouth around Gabriel’s length and sucked. 

Gabriel had to use his powers to tamp down his orgasm. He so did not want this to end so soon. Sam was incredible. Gabriel snapped shaky fingers and handed the hunter a bottle of lube, and if Sam used a little too much no one noticed or cared. Sam tentatively pressed his finger against the archangel’s tight hole and Gabriel started wriggling trying to get more so Sam pressed in slowly. “Shit Sammy. Faster,” Gabriel panted so Sam started pumping his finger in and out. “More Sammy,” Gabriel moaned so Sam inserted another finger and continued pumping them in and out of the moaning archangel. 

Every sound Gabriel made was going straight to Sam’s cock. He wanted nothing more than to plunge into him, but he wanted to do this right so he continued what he was doing, adding a third finger at Gabriel’s urging. It wasn’t long at all before Gabriel cried, “Fuck Sammy. In me. Please.”

Sam wasted no time in complying, sliding in slowly. “God Gabriel,” he moaned as he slid in. It was just so tight and hot, he was struggling not to cum already. He leaned forward and captured the archangel in a needy desperate kiss as he began thrusting in and out and he reached between them and started pumping Gabriel in time with his thrusts. “Gabriel…so close…I’m gonna…ahhh,” he cried as he spilled over, Gabriel following right behind. 

“Fuck Sammy,” Gabriel said shakily. “And you were worried you wouldn’t know what you were doing. That was incredible.”

Sam answered him with another kiss as he settled beside him and pulled the archangel close. “I love you Gabriel,” he whispered as he drifted off to sleep. 

“I love you my Sammy,” Gabriel whispered to the now sleeping hunter as he snapped his fingers covering them with the blanket.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day after breakfast Dean pulled Sam aside. “There was another reason I wanted to come here this weekend,” he said nervously. 

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean’s nerves. What could be worse than pulling them into a heavenly war where they were pawns. “What’s up?”

“I was thinking of asking Lisa to marry me,” he said all in one breath. 

Sam grinned, “Seriously? That’s great!”

Dean smiled a little too. He wasn’t sure why he had thought that his brother wouldn’t approve. Maybe he just expected to have his own words thrown back at him about forming attachments. “Yeah. I hope so.”

“Do you have a ring yet?” Sam asked.

“I picked one up on the way here.”

“Wow. That’s just…wow.”

“So you’re good with this?” Dean asked hopefully.

“What? Of course! Lisa is great. So is Ben. She helped me a ton when I got out of hell. She’s good for you.”

“Good,” Dean said as he went back to Gabriel and Cas followed by Sam. 

Once they got back over there Sam decided to bring up something that he had been thinking about all morning. “I know you said no talk of big stuff this weekend Gabe, but I don’t think we should wait until Monday.”

“Why?” Gabriel asked curiously. 

“Well I know we’re hoping things go well, but if they don’t, if we come back injured, we may need help.” 

“Sam has a point. I’d rather be here if there’s even a small chance,” Dean said.

“Cas?” Gabriel asked looking for his brother’s opinion before deciding. He would be the one going against Raphael so there was no question that the final decision was up to him, but he would hear everyone out first. 

“I can see the merits of both sides,” Cas admitted. 

“Let me think about it,” Gabriel said with a note of finality as he turned on the television. 

It wasn’t until after lunch that he had made his decision. “Ok. We’ll do this today. Cas do you think you can get Sam an angel blade? I don’t want him going up there unprotected.”

“You’re taking him with you?” Cas asked in surprise. 

“Our bond is still very new little brother. I don’t have a choice.”

“Of course. I hadn’t realized. I will be back momentarily,” Cas said as he disappeared. It was only a few seconds before he reappeared and handed Sam a blade. 

Gabriel squinted at it for a moment. “Hester’s?” he asked. Angel blades were tied to the grace of their owners so they were distinguishable from each other if you look hard enough. 

“She fell in battle last week,” Cas said sadly. Gabriel closed his eyes in mourning for a moment. He had known that his brothers and sisters were dying, but until now he had no names so it hadn’t really hit him. 

“Ok. You ready Sammy?”

“Yeah just…” Sam paused and pulled Gabriel into a desperate kiss. When he broke apart he said, “I love you Gabriel.”

“I love you too Sammy. Always.” And they were off to heaven. 

 

Gabriel had assumed that Raphael had taken over Michael’s place so he appeared in the control center of heaven to find that he was right. Raphael was sitting smugly in Michael’s chair that had originally belonged to their father. “Little brother! You’re back from the dead and you brought me a gift!” Raphael said cheerfully. “We’ll just lock him up until we find his brother. We’re getting close.”

“You won’t touch him,” Gabriel snarled. “I came to tell you that the apocalypse is off and I won’t let you restart it.”

“You presume too much little brother. How is it you are still alive anyway?”

“Father brought me back,” Gabriel said.

“Father is dead,” Raphael said cruelly.

“No he isn’t. And he doesn’t want the apocalypse to happen now any more than we do.”

“You lie!” Raphael hissed. “And you dare bring a human here?” Raphael pulled his blade and lunged at Sam, but before Sam could even get his own blade up Gabriel was in front of him deflecting what would surely have been a killing blow. 

Gabriel looked at Raphael with fire in his eyes. “I said don’t touch him. I don’t want to hurt you brother, but I will.”

Raphael narrowed his eyes and looked between the two. “You’ve bound yourself to a human?” he said disgusted. 

“Actually Father bound me to a human,” Gabriel said smugly. 

Raphael raised his blade and swung it at Gabriel this time, who swiftly deflected it before going on the offensive. Raphael really wanted to get Sam too it seemed, because every time Gabriel was forced away from him by a blow he would go for Sam, but Gabriel was always quick enough to block it. Sam was getting annoyed at being protected like a child, and forced his way into the fight. Gabriel was wasting too much of his energy protecting Sam and was taking some serious damage because of it. Once Sam had pushed his way in they started getting Raphael on the defensive. They were all getting hurt, but no one could get a killing blow. 

Sam felt like he was going to collapse, but Raphael didn’t look much better. Gabriel didn’t show it, but Sam could read him well enough to know he was near the end of his rope too, and then Raphael disappeared. “Damnit!” Gabriel yelled as he fell to his knees in exhaustion and pain. They were both cut to ribbons. Sam was sitting on the ground next to Gabriel and managed to say, “Gabriel…get us home.”

That snapped Gabriel out of it and he snapped his fingers and they landed on the couch. Dean had been sitting in the chair waiting for them to get back and Cas was just hovering around the room. “Cas. Go get Lisa and Ben. Bring them here,” Gabriel gasped out. 

“Hold up a minute Cas…What the hell Gabriel?” Dean snapped. He didn’t want them to be a part of this. 

“They’re in danger. Hurry,” Gabriel said holding his side as blood and grace spilled out of the worst of his wounds. 

“Go Cas,” Dean said as he grabbed his bag and grabbed his sewing implements. 

It was a moment later when an alarmed Lisa and Ben appeared in the room. “I’m sorry Lis. I can’t explain right now, but you were in danger. Can you sew?” he asked as he was working on the worst of his brother’s cuts.

“Yeah, but…”

“Great. Can you start stitching up Gabriel? I gotta stop Sam’s bleeding here.”

Lisa looked to Cas who said, “Those wounds were caused by an archangel blade. They are beyond my ability to heal.”

Lisa took a deep shaky breath. She could do this. She needed to do this. “Cas can you take Ben somewhere else? He doesn’t need to see this.”

Cas nodded, glad that he could do something useful. “We will be in the library,” he said as he led Ben that direction. 

Dean just nodded without looking up and used his elbow to nudge his first aid kit towards Lisa, who took another shaky breath and helped Gabriel out of his shirt. “I’ve never…um…sewed a person before,” she told him nervously. 

“Well I’ve never been sewed before so we’re both new at this then,” he said jokingly trying to put her at ease as he moved his hand away from the wound. She gasped and covered her mouth, but collected herself and got to work. She chanced glances over at Dean every so often where he was stitching up a grimacing Sam and marveled at how fast he was at it. He had clearly had plenty of practice. Lisa, however was much slower, and had just finished the gaping wound in Gabriel’s side when Dean moved next to her and started working on Gabriel’s shoulder.

Once both of them were all stitched up, Sam was out like a light and Gabriel was much better. “Gabriel. I know you’re tired and you need rest, but I need to know what happened. What’s coming for my family?”

“Raphael,” Gabriel slurred. “You’re safe here,” he managed as he passed out too. 

“Damnit,” Dean said kicking the chair behind him before he took a deep breath and ran his hand down his face. “Ok, let me get them to bed and then I’ll fill you in on what little I actually know,” Dean told Lisa as he picked up his brother and started walking towards his bedroom. He was very glad that they had chosen the closest bedroom. His brother was heavy. Then he went back for Gabriel which was infinitely easier. He left their door open so that he would hopefully hear if they woke up and went back to the living room and the shell-shocked Lisa. 

“I’m so sorry Lis. I never wanted to pull you into any of this,” Dean said as he sat down next to her and put his arm around her. 

“It’s okay Dean. Once I found out what you do when you saved Ben from the changeling, I knew that this was a risk of being involved with you. I just wish I knew what was going on,” Lisa said understandingly, still internally beaming that Dean had called them his family. 

“You and me both,” Dean muttered before he said in a normal voice. “Ok here’s what I know. There was a civil war in heaven. Cas’ side wanted to make heaven a more friendly place, while the other side, Raphael’s side wanted to restart the apocalypse and destroy the world, but since Raphael is an archangel and Cas is just a seraph, he was severely outgunned and outmanned, so Gabriel had to step in. They went to confront Raphael and get him to stand down, and then they came back like that. The first thing Gabriel said was to go get you and Ben because you were in danger and you heard the rest,” Dean explained. 

Lisa sat there for a moment just taking it all in before she said, “Ok so what now?”

Dean shrugged. “I guess we wait for the pixie to wake up and tell us what’s going on. In the meantime I need to kid-proof at least this main floor and make sure that Ben knows not to go downstairs without me.”

“Need some help?” Lisa asked. She really needed to be doing something right now. 

“Sure,” Dean said with a smile as they headed towards the library first. They found Ben looking at the sword rack in awe. “And that’s the first thing that needs to go.”

The rack wouldn’t come down so Dean just started grabbing an armful of the sword, which were thankfully sheathed. Lisa did the same with the rest of the swords that Dean couldn’t get and followed Dean out. “We’ll put these in the main archives for now,” Dean told her hoping that he would be able to remember the way. “We can find a more permanent place later.” 

It was a few hours before they had the main floor kid-proofed, which included removing the books that Cas pointed out as dangerous, of which there thankfully weren’t many. Granted most of the books in there had the potential to be dangerous, but since anything that could use that potential was now on other floors Dean wasn’t too worried about it. Dean asked Cas if he could go some stuff for Lisa and Ben and he did so happily after Lisa gave him a list. It was starting to get late so Dean made up some sandwiches for them for dinner and led Lisa to the room he had been using that Gabriel had fixed up for him just like his and Sam’s room, and put Ben in the room next to his. Gabriel had thankfully gotten rid of all the dust and mildew in the whole bunker, but the room was still small and rather worn, but it would do for now. 

“Shouldn’t one of us be there in case Sam or Gabriel wakes up?” Lisa asked concerned.

“Cas will watch over them. Don’t worry,” Dean said pulling Lisa into bed. They were both fast asleep within minutes.


	13. Chapter 13

Gabriel woke first around noon the next day and when he rolled over groggily and saw Sam next to him he immediately reached over to heal him, and then grabbed him in a needy kiss as soon as his eyes opened. “I thought we were goners,” he said relieved as he pressed his forehead against his lovers. 

“Me to,” Sam said and kissed his lover again until they heard a throat clear from the doorway.

“I’m glad to see you two are awake but I think it’s time we get some answers,” Dean said annoyed. He hated being jerked around not knowing what was going on. 

“Dean!” Lisa said scandalized slapping his arm, before turning to the two on the bed. “How are you feeling?” she asked kindly.

“Ok. I was able to get Sammy here all healed up but I’m still super low on juice,” Gabriel said tiredly. “But Dean is right. You guys need to know what’s going on so you can figure out your next move.”

Dean did a bit of a double-take when Gabriel said he was right, but then said, “Thank you Gabriel. So what’s going on?”

Gabriel waited until Cas came in, “Ben is in the library with a book. A safe one,” he explained as he stepped into the room that was quickly getting crowded. 

“Ok, long story short, it came to a fight, we were winning…barely…but then Raphael bailed. The good news is that he’s no longer in control of heaven. Cas, you should be good to take over now. The bad news is that he and his most loyal are now operating from the shadows, and he’s just as resourceful as I am and I successfully hid for thousands of years until I got careless with you two boneheads.”

Cas nodded at his brother and left. The less time that heaven was left in chaos the better. 

“Ok so what does that mean for us?” Lisa asked.

“Raphael implied that he was close to finding you Dean, which means he was close to Lisa and Ben too, and wouldn’t hesitate to use them to get to you. He plans to keep you and Sam locked up somewhere until he can spring the cage.”

“Ok easy solution. I go home, act as bait, and when he shows you take him out,” Dean said. 

Gabriel took a deep breath and counted to ten. It wouldn’t do to start yelling with the door open were the kid could hear. “Why do you two reckless idiots always come up with the stupidest plans to get yourselves killed!” he hissed angrily. “You really think he would come after you himself? And even if he did, he wouldn’t even have to get close. Just know where you are and he could bring you to him. And even if he did come to get you himself, it would be too quickly for anyone to react.”

“But…”

“And no, Lisa and Ben still wouldn’t be safe, because they would be used to get you to spill every dirty little secret you know and then to make you say yes to Michael if they get him out,” Gabriel said furiously.

Dean took a step back and raised his hands in surrender, “Ok. Bad plan. I get it. So what do we do then?”

Gabriel looked at Sam who knew what he was thinking and nodded. Gabriel wasn’t going to invite others to live in their home without Sam’s approval. “Best case scenario, you stay here. Lay low until this thing is over. Forever if Cas and I can’t win.”

“We can’t live in hiding forever Gabriel,” Lisa said patiently.

“You can live perfectly normal lives here. The strongest wards are around the bunker here sure, but they cast a net of protection around the entire town. Ben can go to school, you can go to the movies, grocery shopping, whatever. You just won’t be able to leave the town.”

“And if Ben wanted to have friends over what then?” Dean snapped. “Not to mention all the dangerous stuff here.”

“I’m sure Gabriel can put up some sort of barrier or locks around the bottom two floors and we can lock up all the dangerous stuff down there, and I see no problem with Ben having friends here, as long as we keep them out of the library and the storerooms. We can even convert one of the other storerooms into some sort of gymnasium for him or something,” Sam said. He had been considering trying to get Dean and Lisa to move in here. There was more than enough space that they wouldn’t be stepping on each other’s toes. 

Dean and Lisa looked at each other and had a silent conversation before Lisa said, “We’ll think about it, but what are our other options?”

“Well I could ward you and Ben so that the angels wouldn’t be able to find you, but they could still use human informants and anywhere but here they could get in to grab you anyway, but that’s the only other option I could think of,” Gabriel said shrugging. “I mean we could try to get you angel blades and teach you to defend yourselves, but to learn enough to take on an angel successfully would take years, maybe even decades, and you can bet that he would send more than one.”

“But what about all our stuff, Ben’s school, we would need to make arrangements to have him transferred, have the house sold, and probably a hundred other things I’m not even thinking about right now,” Lisa asked. 

“Best thing to do would be to leave it all behind. I can whip up new documents for everything. If Raphael is close then he may know your names already or will soon, so no paper trail would be best. Lisa and Ben are such common names that you should be fine, but new last names at least would be best,” Gabriel said. 

“Ok. We still want to think about it, just in case we can find another option, but we’ll stay here in the meantime,” Lisa said. 

“Great,” Gabriel said cheerfully. He knew that he was throwing a lot at them really fast and Dean was used to standing up after these kinds of hits, but he was gaining new respect for Lisa. Unfortunately he may have to throw even more at her. “Can I talk to Lisa alone for a few minutes?”

“Why?” Dean asked suspiciously.

“It’s okay Dean,” Lisa said placing a hand on his arm. 

“What about me? I can’t leave can I?” Sam asked Gabriel.

“I can put you to sleep so you can’t see or hear what we say if that’s okay with you?” Gabriel asked hopefully. 

“Okay,” Sam said. He trusted Gabriel. If it was something he needed to know Gabriel would tell him. 

They all looked to Dean. “Fine. I’ll go check on Ben.”

Once he had left, Gabriel put Sam to sleep and turned to Lisa. “I will keep whatever you say here just between us. Sam says that there was some question over Ben’s paternity but that you said that he wasn’t Dean’s son. I know that it may seem that this is none of my business, but I promise you that it’s very important that I know the truth. Is Ben Dean’s son?”

Lisa could see from Gabriel’s demeanor that this was serious, not that she could really comprehend lying to an archangel anyway so Lisa just said, “Yes, but why does it matter.”

Gabriel sighed. “How much do you know about the aborted apocalypse,” he asked wearily. 

“Just that Sam and Dean were the vessels for Michael and Lucifer, but kept saying no until they were locked back in the cage.”

“Well the reason they were the vessels was because of their bloodline…” Gabriel didn’t really know how to break it to her, but hopefully she would figure it out and she did.

Lisa gasped and covered her mouth, “No. You’re not saying…”

“I’m saying that if they can’t get to Dean, then Ben would make an excellent second choice. They took his half-brother before and his son would be a much better match than that. More than that it also makes Dean expendable. Right now they want to capture him, but if they can get to Ben, it will turn into a kill order.”

“But they don’t know about Ben being Dean’s son,” Lisa said. 

“I haven’t technically met Ben yet or I wouldn’t have had to ask, but angels can see bloodlines. Any angel that lays eyes on him will know in a second that he’s a Winchester,” Gabriel said seriously. 

“But you said that this town is warded against angels?” Lisa asked to confirm.

“Not technically. The wards from the bunker throw out an area of affect because they are so strong, and the affect is basically like wards of intent. Any supernatural being meaning harm to anyone within that area won’t be able to enter. That includes angels and archangels, and none of them can get in here without being brought over the wards by Sam or Dean…or now Ben I guess since he’s a Winchester too, no matter their intent.”

“Ok. I will do everything possible to talk Dean into staying here,” Lisa said firmly.

“Free word of advice?” Gabriel asked not knowing if it would be welcome or not.

“After everything you’ve done for us Gabriel, you can offer any advice you want,” Lisa said sincerely. 

“I recommend telling Dean about Ben. I understand why you didn’t before when he wasn’t in your life, but if you two are as serious as you seem, he really should know,” Gabriel said kindly. 

Lisa nodded. “You’re probably right. I’ll think about it. Thank you Gabriel.”

“You’re welcome,” he said with a warm smile before yawning. 

“I’ll let you rest now,” Lisa said. Gabriel nodded, and lowered himself back down from his half-sitting position and managed to wake Sam up before he fell back asleep. He shouldn’t have used his powers like that while his levels were still so low, but it needed to be done. 

Sam sighed when he woke up and saw Gabriel passed out. It seemed it was his turn to amuse himself while Gabriel was sleeping. He stuck his head out the door and saw Lisa heading down the hallway and called out to her. “Hey Lisa.” When she turned to look at him he said, “Would you mind bringing me my book that I left on the table in the library?”

“No problem Sam.”

It was Dean that brought the book back to him. “So you’re stuck in here while the pixie is convalescing?”

“I guess it’s my turn,” he said with a laugh. At Dean’s confused look he said, “It’s usually Gabriel that has to find something to amuse himself while I’m sleeping.”

“Oh. Yeah. Didn’t think of that. I always forget that angels don’t sleep…usually.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how happy I am with the way this story is going. I feel like it's just meandering and becoming boring. Usually at this point I would just whip up a quick epilogue and wrap it up, but I figured I'd get your opinion first. What do you guys think?


	14. Chapter 14

Dean or Lisa popped in to check on Sam a few times over the course of the day to make sure he didn’t need anything. Gabriel at least could snap up anything he wanted. Sam had to rely on other people to fetch. When Dean brought him dinner and brought his own to eat with him Sam took the opportunity to have a conversation he’d been meaning to have with his brother all day. “You still planning to ask Lisa to marry you?” He wasn’t worried about saying it out loud since the door was closed and Gabriel had the room completely soundproofed. 

“Don’t you think this changes things a little?” Dean scoffed.

“Yeah I do. I think it’s even more obvious that you should ask her,” Sam said firmly knowing where his brother was going with this. The same place he always went with this. 

“Sam…” Dean said warningly.

“No Dean. I’m not letting you do this again. Not to her. She deserves better. You need to get that people can make their own choices. She is in this now, like it or not and isn’t she safer with you than without?”

“You want her to become a hunter? You want Ben to become a hunter?” Dean asked harshly. 

Sam sighed, “Look around you Dean. There are other options now. With the warding here they can live a normal life despite being surrounded by hunters, and if they want to be a part of this world, they can be researchers like I am now. We can revive the men of letters, but it needs to be their choice.”

Dean deflated. “I get you Sammy. I don’t know that I agree, but I’ll think about it ok?” That’s really all Sam could ask so he just nodded and Dean left. 

Once it started getting late, Sam crawled into bed with his lover and spooned behind the smaller archangel, absentmindedly rubbing circles on Gabriel’s stomach with his thumbs until he fell asleep. 

When Sam woke the next morning, it was with a warm kiss. Sam smiled into it. “Morning Samshine,” Gabriel said with a smile. 

“Morning Gabe,” Sam reached out to run a hand through Gabriel’s hair. “How are you feeling?”

“Peachy. Bout fifty percent charged and ready to go,” he said cheerily.

They got out of bed and made their way to the kitchen for breakfast to find Lisa and Dean already there. They were letting Ben sleep in. 

Once Gabriel snapped and turned their crappy breakfast into a feast and he and Sam sat down to eat, Dean asked, “So what happened up there? I thought you were a match for Raphael and he kicked both your asses?”

Gabriel sighed heavily. “It was a mess. Sam and I were more worried about protecting each other than we were about taking out Raphael and he used that to his advantage.”

“We’ll get him next time Gabe,” Sam said soothingly.

“I’ve been thinking about that. I don’t want you anywhere near that fight, but we can’t wait so long to let the bond settle for me to leave you behind,” Gabriel ignored Sam’s squawk of protest and kept talking, “so we need to train.”

“Train how?” Dean asked. I mean Sam was already an amazing fighter and Dean didn’t see how he could get much better and Gabriel must be pretty good too.

Gabriel looked at Sam, “We need to learn to fight as one, work together, and trust each other in a battle situation.”

Sam nodded. He could see the wisdom in that. “Okay. How?” Sam guessed that fighting against each other wouldn’t help much. 

“We will need Cas and Dean to help,” Gabriel said looking expectantly at Dean.

“I’m in. Whatever it takes to end this.” He said forcefully. 

Once they were finished eating, Gabriel cleaned out another storage room and made it into a gymnasium with basketball goals for Ben, but added mats for now for their training and called Cas. 

“You called for me brother?” Cas said as he appeared and looked around curiously. 

“We need your help Cas,” Sam started, but Gabriel interrupted him.

“We need you to help us train to take down Raphael together,” Gabriel said.

Cas knew what Gabriel meant, and could easily guess what went wrong last time. “There is a reason that bondmates never fight in the same garrison as you well know Gabriel,” he said wearily. 

“I know, but we don’t have a choice in this situation,” Gabriel said just as wearily.

“Wait why?” Sam asked curiously. 

“The instinct to protect is too strong. It can cause serious problems as I presume you have gathered,” Cas explained. “However, Gabriel is correct. There is no choice here and I will help, but it will not be easy.”

“When is anything ever easy for us?” Sam asked wryly.

The corners of Cas’ mouth twitched and he said, “You make a valid point.” After a pause he continued. “I think we should begin by trying to override the protective instinct or nothing else we do will matter.”

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably. He knew what this would entail and didn’t like it at all. Cas pulled his blade and Sam did the same as Gabriel stood off to the side. Cas made a wild swing at Sam and Sam raised his blade to stop it, but before he could Gabriel was in front of him deflecting Cas’ blade himself. Cas raised an eyebrow at his brother, who relaxed and said sheepishly, “oops” and shrugged. 

Sam couldn’t help a chuckle. He could see what Cas meant by the instinct to protect. He didn’t think he would fare any better in that test. It took more than an hour before Sam was able to get a chance to protect himself, but Gabriel was still very on edge about it and, had it been a real fight, far too distracted to survive. Cas seemed pleased with the progress though, and switched them up and Sam had to fight to keep from jumping to Gabriel’s rescue. It was a little easier for him though since Gabriel was so much more powerful than he was and it only took just over thirty minutes before Sam stopped jumping to Gabriel’s rescue. It probably helped that every time he did, Gabriel would make fun of him with comments like, ‘my hero’ while batting his eyes at the hunter. 

Once Sam could successfully stay out of it, Cas and Gabriel had a full fight instead of just swing and deflect. Sam was in awe of their skill, but still had to keep fighting himself to keep from jumping in. Gabriel obviously wasn’t fighting with his full force or he would have wiped the floor with Cas, but that wasn’t the purpose of this. Once Cas noticed Sam relaxing they stopped, and Cas switched to fight Sam. 

Turns out Gabriel could hold back for a couple swings, but his nerves were easily frayed as they couldn’t get much farther than that. Finally Sam just sighed and said, “Cas can you give us a minute?” Cas nodded and disappeared and Sam pulled Gabriel in and pressed his lips to his lover’s softly, but pulled back a moment later without deepening it. “What’s going on Gabe?” He asked as he sat on the mat, tugging Gabriel down with him so that he was leaning against the tall hunter. 

“I just…” Gabriel sighed, “You’re just so human and fragile, and I just can’t,” he said frustrated.

“You have to remember Gabriel. I’m not near as fragile anymore. If it can’t kill you it can’t kill me remember?” Sam said soothingly.

“Maybe not, but it can still hurt you,” Gabriel said firmly. 

“And you can heal me,” Sam replied, tucking a lock of hair behind Gabriel’s ear, as he broached another aspect that he wasn’t sure if even Gabriel had considered. “You have to trust me to be able to protect myself Gabriel.”

Gabriel buried his face in the hunter’s neck for a moment and took a deep breath, before pressing a soft kiss to the sensitive skin, and then turning his face up to press a kiss to his bonded’s lips as well. “You’re right Sammy.”

Sam smiled and pressed one more peck to the archangel’s lips as he stood and pulled Gabriel to his feet as well. They called Cas in and tried again. There were a few more false starts, but it was taking longer for Gabriel to get involved each time, and before long Sam and Cas were going at each other furiously, as Gabriel stood stiffly, twitching every so often, but managed to stay out of it. By lunchtime he still hadn’t relaxed completely, but they figured it was as good as they were going to get for a while so took it as a win as they made to the kitchen for lunch.

Gabriel snapped up a huge lunch as Sam collapsed into the chair and began eating ravenously. Dean laughed, “Not easy keeping up with angels huh?” he ribbed his brother. 

“You’ll get your chance after lunch,” Sam shot back. They were going to have Cas and Dean against Sam and Gabriel after lunch. 

“Can we watch?” Ben asked hopefully. He had been to a few martial arts matches before and this seemed like it would be a lot of fun.

Lisa looked a little torn, “Will anyone really be getting hurt?” she asked. She knew the angels could heal just about anything that happened, but if there was going to be a lot of blood flying around she didn’t really want Ben to be there. 

“We are using training blades. If you get hit with them they won’t leave much more than a scratch and a bruise,” Gabriel assured her. “Can’t guarantee that no one will get a dislocated shoulder or something like that, but it won’t be brutal or bloody or anything.” 

Dean wanted to protest. He didn’t really want them seeing him in fighting mode, but bit his tongue remembering the conversation he had with Sam about people making their own choices and if he was to decide to ask Lisa to marry him, they needed to know all of him, so when Lisa agreed he kept his mouth shut. 

They went back to the gymnasium after lunch and Gabriel snapped up some seats for Lisa and Ben before the four of them went to the center and drew their blades. Dean made the first strike directly at Sam, which his brother blocked while Cas got a hit on Gabriel in his distraction at seeing Sam attacked. Gabriel got his head back in the game and blocked Cas’s next swing. 

Lisa watched as they fought and was awed at the skill that all four of them showed. She could definitely see Sam and Gabriel’s problem though Sam kept leaving himself open to attack while blocking Gabriel and Gabriel kept doing the same. After about twenty minutes Cas called a break and Gabriel immediately said, “Geez bro, you could pull your blows a little more,” while wincing and healing them all. 

Cas had been hanging around with humans too long as he let out a heavy sigh, “Gabriel, your own skill far surpasses my own. I shouldn’t even be able to land a blow. Perhaps a little pain will help you learn faster.”

Lisa took that opportunity to speak up. As a yoga instructor she had a lot of experience with the fluidity of motion and positioning. Not exactly the same thing as they were doing, but she could see some places where it might be useful. “Um…would you like an observation from an outside observer?”

Knowing that she had a keen eye for detail Sam quickly said, “Sure. What’d you see?”

“Well Gabriel has a tendency to block high and Sam blocks low. Maybe that’s something you could work with. Also, Gabriel, when you jump in front of Sam to block him, you just stay there. If you have to do that, maybe keep moving so that it doesn’t take him completely out of the fight until he gets around you.”

Gabriel tilted his head in thought, trying to picture what she was asking him to do. So she came over and held her hand out to Dean, “May I?” He tentatively placed his blade in her hand and she walked over to Sam and pointed the blade at his chest and nodded at Gabriel who came in to block it. She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a nudge and said, “Now keep moving to the other side.” 

Once he did, Gabriel nodded in understanding. “I see what you mean. Good eye Lisa,” he said approvingly as Dean beamed with pride. 

“It’s always good to have someone watching what you can’t see while you’re in the middle of it,” she said with a shrug deflecting the praise. 

They tried again, and it took some time for them to get the hang of the adjustments that Lisa mentioned, but it was far better than the last time. Still nowhere near good enough though. 

After a few hours where they stopped to make adjustments a few times, Cas just shook his head. “I know it may seem counter-productive, but tomorrow you two need to fight each other.” At the confused look from the other occupants Cas continued. “This isn’t a problem we see often in the garrisons because they all go through the same training, but you need to learn each other’s styles. Your strengths and weaknesses. You need to know each other’s reactions to be able to anticipate them.”

“You’re right. Angels don’t usually have that problem so I didn’t even consider it. It definitely makes sense though when you put it like that,” Gabriel said thoughtfully as the group moved to the kitchen for dinner.


	15. Chapter 15

After dinner Sam and Gabriel went to bed. They were understandably exhausted and Gabriel still wasn’t back to full strength yet. Dean, Lisa, and Ben went to watch tv and after Ben went to bed Dean turned to Lisa. “I never wanted you to see me like that,” he said nervously, wanting to get her reaction out of the way.

“Dean. I know what you do for a living and that you’ve spent the majority of your life fighting to survive and to save people. I’m not going to lie, that kind of ferocious intensity would probably scare the crap out of me if I didn’t know that, but now it just makes me feel safer,” she said sincerely. 

Dean looked at her a little shocked. He definitely hadn’t expected that reaction. It was this shock and relief that she didn’t hate him now that had the next words tumbling out of his mouth, “Marry me?” When he realized what he said he tried to backtrack, “No. Wait. I didn’t mean,” but then realized what it sounded like and continued, “I mean, I did mean…um I do want…damnit,” he realized he was just messing everything up. “Wait here. I’ll be right back,” he said as he ran to their room.

When he got back he was carrying a ring box and he sat back down next to her. “I didn’t mean to do this like this. I hadn’t even gotten around to planning what I was going to say, but…marry me?” he asked hopefully as he opened the box. 

She couldn’t help but laugh at his bumbling attempt, even as happy tears ran down her face and she nodded. He grinned and slid the ring on her finger. She looked at it happily for a moment, before she remembered the conversation she had with Gabriel. “Um Dean. There’s something I need to tell you though,” she said nervously. When he looked at her expectantly she said, “Ben is actually your son. I lied when you asked because you weren’t actually a part of our lives. You were just passing through and at the time I thought you were just a drifter and shouldn’t be a part of his life and…” 

Dean cut her off with a kiss. “It doesn’t matter. I mean yeah I’m thrilled that he’s actually mine, but I considered him as good as anyway, and I don’t blame you for lying back then. I wish you had told me the truth sooner, but I’m not going to throw a fit about it, but we are telling Ben tomorrow.” Dean was just too happy that she said yes to get all up in arms over anything, and Lisa was just so relieved he wasn’t mad that she didn’t even think to object to his, admittedly very reasonable, demand. 

 

After dinner Gabriel had climbed immediately into bed. He would still be sleeping until he was back to a hundred percent. After the exhaustion of the day Sam hadn’t been far behind him though as he curled up around Gabriel’s back and pulled him close and when he woke the next morning the archangel was just starting to stir and Sam smirked. He may never get this chance again he thought as he slowly slid down, trying not to completely wake his lover just yet and after noticing that angels apparently had the same morning issues as humans when they actually slept, he took Gabriel’s already hard cock in his mouth getting a sleepy moan from the archangel. 

He knew the moment that Gabriel fully awakened a few moments later since he gasped and moved his fingers to tangle into Sam’s hair as he thrust his hips up. It was a moment later that Sam felt a bottle of lube being pressed into his hand and he hummed approvingly around Gabriel’s length as he lathered up his fingers and began preparing his angel. Once they were spent, Sam slid himself out and lay back down next to Gabriel who rolled to his side and kissed Sam deeply. “Good morning to you too Samshine,” he said with a satisfied grin on his face. 

Sam gave a breathless chuckle. “Definitely a good morning,” he said kissing the archangel again. “C’mon sleepyhead. Let’s go get breakfast,” Sam said tugging the protesting archangel out of bed laughing.

They had beaten everyone else up this morning and settled in for breakfast. The smell of the food Gabriel conjured apparently woke Dean up, because he and Lisa were at the table a few minutes later. Once they had a few bites and they were no longer sleep-walking Dean spoke up, “So we have news,” he paused to let that sink in and Sam raised an eyebrow in question, while Gabriel, who had already noticed the ring just smirked waiting for it. “Lisa and I are getting married.” 

The statement was punctuated with a finger snap by Gabriel as the room was decked out in banners and confetti and the sound of applause rang through the room, completely drowning out Sam’s simple “Congratulations.”

“Yes thank you Gabriel,” Dean said in annoyance, “But I wasn’t finished yet. Also, turns out Ben is my son. We are going to tell him later today so keep your mouths shut for now, and we have decided to stay here at least until the Raphael problem is dealt with.”

“Good,” Gabriel said cheerfully. “Now I know you’ll need IDs, birth certificates, social security cards and the like, but what else do you need and what names do you want?” Gabriel asked. 

“Well I was thinking we could just go with Winchester?” Lisa asked hopefully.

Gabriel cringed, “If that’s what you want, but Winchester would draw even more attention from the angels than your current names so I would advise against it.”

“Right. Didn’t think of that,” Lisa said. 

“I’ll be right back,” Dean said as he headed out the door to the garage. He came back with an old tobacco box and slid it to Lisa. “Pick one,” he said with a smile as she opened it to find dozens of fake IDs. She rolled her eyes and went through them before sliding one over to Dean. “Hetfield it is.”

“I’ll also need school transcripts for Ben to get him enrolled in school here,” Lisa said. “And proof of address…does this place even have an address?”

“I can fix all that. No worries,” Gabriel said waving her off before snapping his fingers and making a stack of papers appear in front of her. “All good?” he asked. She leafed through them and nodded, making special note of the fact that Dean Hetfield was listed on Ben’s birth certificate. “Great. If you think of anything else you need just let me know. I have to go beat up my husband now,” he said happily pulling Sam towards the gymnasium. 

Sam was worried that the protective thing would kick in if they tried to fight each other, but it seems that knowing that they wouldn’t truly hurt each other made it a moot point. They were a whir of motion. They had completely different styles and it had never shown more clearly. Sam was all hard lines and deliberate motions while Gabriel was graceful and fluid and looked as much like he was dancing as he was fighting. Gabriel was obviously holding back to keep them on the same skill level, but it was a beautiful sight. It was about two hours later when Dean, Lisa, and Ben came in and they were still at it, and even Dean marveled at the sight. 

After lunch they had another match with Cas and Dean and it went much better than before. They still weren’t working well together yet, but they weren’t hindering each other quite as much as before and while they did still take stupid risks to protect each other, it was far less often as they were learning to trust each other’s skills. All in all Cas pronounced it a successful day. After dinner, Sam and Gabriel both fell into bed completely exhausted again. They were working themselves to the bone, but it would be worth it in the end. 

The next morning Gabriel woke first and wriggled out from under Sam’s arm, before sitting across his ass and waking the hunter with a massage that he so desperately needed, which had the added bonus of Sam just needing to get his knees under him for Gabriel to have his way with him. It seemed that morning sex was going to become their new thing as long as they were training since they were too tired to do anything at the end of the day. 

By the time a week had passed Sam and Gabriel were a well-oiled machine, able to beat Dean and Cas every time, and the other two never landed a hit on them anymore. “I believe it is time for a final test,” Cas said satisfied with their progress. 

“What final test?” Sam asked nervously.

“We will go to heaven and you will fight a group of my top people. Once Gabriel is no longer holding back, we will know for sure if you are ready.”

“How many of your top people?” Sam asked tentatively, not sure he wanted to know. 

“We will begin with five and see how many you can handle.”

Gabriel just gave a sharp nod. It would be a good test as to their skills at working together. “We’ll wait until tomorrow though. I don’t want to go into that already tired,” Gabriel said firmly. 

“Of course brother,” Cas said with a deferring nod. 

“And the rest of the day we have fun,” Gabriel said happily, grabbing Sam’s hand and bounding next door to the pool, followed by everyone else. Gabriel snapped his fingers and everyone was in swim trunks except Lisa who was in a tasteful one piece bathing suit. Gabriel didn’t know what she preferred but figured with such a male presence around it would be best to err on the side of caution. 

Ben had been to the pool a few times over the course of the week and a half that they were there and wasted no time jumping in. Gabriel flew about six feet above the water before tucking his knees to his chest and falling the rest of the way. Sam and Dean made a running start for the edge landing in their own cannon balls to either side of Gabriel just as he surfaced sandwiching him between the two waves. Lisa and Cas got in more sedately, Lisa laughing heartily at the boys’ antics.


	16. Chapter 16

Gabriel was no longer sleeping at night and was completely back to his old strength, though he still lay with Sam all night while the hunter slept, sometimes reading, but usually just watching the hunter sleep and tracing light fingers over his body. When Sam woke it was always with a kiss, and usually with sex, but this morning Sam didn’t let go to get up afterwards. He needed to do something that he’d been putting off, but he couldn’t put it off any longer. “Gabriel we need to talk about what we’re gonna have to do here,” Sam said.

Gabriel lay back down with a sigh, “You mean letting other angels know that I’m alive?”

“I…well no, that’s not what I mean, but yeah let’s talk about that too. Are you okay with that?”

“Not really, but it needs to be done,” Gabriel said with a sad shrug.

“Why don’t you want them to know?” Sam asked curiously. He thought he knew, but he wanted to hear it from him.

“I’m an archangel Sam. With Michael and Lucifer in the cage and Raphael on the run, soon to be dead, I will be expected to take control of heaven. It’s easy to ignore your duty when no one is expecting it of you, but if they knew I was alive it would be that much harder.”

“Why wouldn’t you…take control of heaven I mean?” Sam asked. 

Gabriel just laughed derisively. “Me? In control? I don’t do responsibility Samsquatch. And even if I did, I couldn’t take you away from your family; your friends.”

Sam nodded sadly. “Well why couldn’t you just take over in name only and stay here most of the time. Delegate most everything to Cas and you would only have to go up there in case of something major. Very little responsibility involved,” he suggested with a smile. He wanted to find a way for Gabriel to be okay with this. With everything they were about to do. 

Gabriel thought for a moment. “I suppose that could work, though it would still be easier if I could keep hiding.”

Sam smiled indulgently at his lover, “You can’t hide forever Gabe.”

Gabriel sighed again. “Apparently not,” then he gave a small smile and said, “I made a good go of it though huh?” Sam laughed at that. Yeah hiding for thousands of years was ‘a good go of it’ for sure. “So what else did you want to talk about?” Gabriel asked curiously. 

“Raphael. We are going after him with the intent of killing him. He’s your brother. Will you be okay with that?”

Gabriel winced before he looked Sam right in the eyes. He wanted there to be no confusion on this point. “I would do anything…be okay with anything…if it helped keep you safe. You are more important to me than anything in existence and anything that threatens you will die. I don’t care if my father himself threatens you, I will take his ass on too…or more likely die trying in that scenario, but you get my point. There is absolutely nothing that I wouldn’t do for you.”

Sam kissed him deeply. “And you know I feel the same for you Gabe. Truly. I know you will do it. What I’m asking is how you feel about it.”

“Do I relish the idea of killing my brother? Of course not. I hate it. But he brought it on himself. He knows what you are to me and attacked you anyway. I tried to talk sense into him, and he completely disregarded it. Like I said before. I’d do anything for you, including killing my homicidal brother, and not regret it for a second,” Gabriel said seriously. 

Sam was bowled over by the love and sincerity in Gabriel’s voice. His whispered, “I love you Gabriel,” was completely inadequate, but would have to do. 

“I love you always, my Sammy,” Gabriel whispered back pulling the hunter into a deep passionate kiss. When they broke apart Gabriel grinned, “Now what say we go kick some ass?” as he got out of bed and held a hand out to Sam. 

Sam chuckled and said, “Let’s do this…but after breakfast,” he added as his stomach growled. 

Gabriel laughed heartily. “Sure thing Samsquatch. Let’s get you fed. Wouldn’t want you fainting from hunger mid-fight after all.”

Sam mock scoffed, “I’ll have you know that I do not faint. From hunger or otherwise,” he said sticking his nose in the air and walking imperiously out the door, followed by a laughing archangel. 

Cas arrived halfway through breakfast to let them know that everything was ready for them. “How much do they know? Gabriel asked. 

“Only that I have requested their assistance with a special project,” Cas said. 

“So nothing then,” Sam said with a nod. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. 

“I was not sure what all you wished me to reveal, and so decided prudence was the best course of action,” Cas explained. 

“Ok we’ll leave as soon as we are done with breakfast,” Gabriel said nodding in appreciation towards his brother. He would rather have control of the outflow of information. 

They arrived in the training area to see a group of about fifteen angels, who all looked at them in shock. Gabriel was the first to speak. “Ok I know you all have questions so let’s see if I can address a few of them. Yes I am alive, and I’m sure you all know or know of Sam Winchester, my bonded.” He ignored the incredulous whispers that punctuated that statement and continued. “We were bound by Father himself after he raised me from the dead.” No need for them to know that he wasn’t dead for very long. “And we have been training to work together to take Raphael out of the picture.”

One of the angels nervously asked, “You are fighting with your bonded?” 

“Our bond is too new to leave each other’s sides, and this issue can’t wait. I know Raphael and his loyal followers have been launching attacks against heaven, and searching the earth for my bonded and his brother. We cannot give him time to gain a foothold. Castiel has been helping to train us to overcome the limitations of the bond in battle.”

“So that’s where you’ve been,” Balthazar spoke up looking at Cas. 

“Indeed brother. I felt that getting them ready to stand up to Raphael was of the utmost importance,” Cas said strongly, almost daring anyone to disagree. He knew that he hadn’t exactly been available to his troops after all. No one disagreed with him though. They all knew that only an archangel could take on an archangel, so thought that Cas was right and it was more important than anything else they had going on. 

“So what do you need of us?” another of the angels asked. 

“We wish to test their readiness against multiple opponents. We will begin with five of you, and add more if they are victorious,” Cas told them waiting for volunteers. Only the fact that they would be using training blades and Gabriel wouldn’t actually be trying to kill them had five volunteers step forward. Going against an archangel wasn’t exactly an easy task, even five on two. 

The seven stood off against each other, Sam and Gabriel both had two blades. One in each hand. The first attack from the five came quickly and coordinated. Sam raised both arms to block the two blades coming for his neck from both directions and Gabriel ducked under with a spin, blocking the blade that was going for the hunter’s midsection while swinging his leg out to take the feet out from under the three gunning for Sam. This had the added bonus of dancing him out of the way of the two blades headed for him. Two of the angels were caught with his leg, but the other jumped over. Unfortunately for him, that left him open to the ‘killing blow’ from one of Sam’s blades and he was out of the fight. 

Gabriel continued his spin ending back to back with the hunter, as the two that originally went for him were now behind Sam. He braced his back against Sam’s and put a foot on each of their chests and kicked them backwards, by which time the two in front of Sam were back on their feet. The two of them quickly dispatched the remaining four with ease and then grinned at each other as Cas raised his eyebrow. He had been planning to go with seven next, but the ease with which they took out the first five had him calling for ten this time. 

Sam looked at Gabriel and gulped nervously. Gabriel, still grinning, placed a quick kiss to the hunter’s lips. “We got this,” he said with a wink as the area erupted in a flurry of activity. The first five were rather embarrassed at how handily they were beaten and had something to prove while the other five had realized that these two weren’t to be toyed with. It was a much harder fight and, unlike the first one, there were blows landed on both of them, but no killing blows and they managed to beat all ten of the angels, though it took about thirty minutes. 

Cas then gestured for all fifteen to take them on. Sam and Gabriel put up an excellent fight, but were overcome by sheer numbers and ‘fell’ in battle. Or Sam did at least, but taking realism into account if Sam were to die then so would Gabriel so those were the rules they were playing by. Cas nodded approvingly. “I think you’re ready. We shall redouble our efforts to find Raphael’s hiding place.”

Gabriel gave a crisp nod and snapped up a loveseat for his exhausted bonded to collapse onto, before he sat more sedately next to him, pulling Sam’s head into his lap and playing with his hair as he addressed the waiting angels. “Now I know you all have more questions so now is the time to ask them.”

“Will you come back and lead us?”

“I will be remaining on earth with my bonded. Castiel will be leading you in my place. He has my complete support,” Gabriel told them.

“But what if we need you?” someone else asked.

“Castiel will always be able to reach me if I’m needed,” Gabriel said firmly. 

“And if he falls?” 

“Then pray to me and I will come.”

“Why didn’t you come to us sooner?” someone asked. 

“Because I was perfectly fine with Castiel running things, and my place was with Sam,” Gabriel said. 

“But even just to let us know that Castiel had your support, would have made a big difference,” someone pointed out. 

Sam gave a chuckle from Gabriel’s lap, “She’s got you there Gabe.”

Gabriel thumped two fingers to Sam’s forehead and said fondly, “Shut it, you,” before turning back to the angels. “If Raphael had known that I was working with you, then all of you would be in more danger.” Gabriel was completely talking out his ass now, but it sounded good enough, and he couldn’t exactly tell them that he didn’t really care. 

“Castiel keeps talking about free will. What is your opinion on that?” a voice called from the back. 

Gabriel sighed. It looked like this was going to turn into a political discussion. “I am completely for free will, more importantly our father is too. It seems that he left so that we could learn free will without relying on him for everything,” Gabriel explained to them. Sam had relayed his entire conversation with the deadbeat deity, and Gabriel completely agreed with him that his reasons weren’t nearly good enough to make up for everything that had happened, though they did have merit in the long run. Knowing angels as he did however, he added the caveat that Cas had apparently not thought to. “That doesn’t mean that you can do whatever you wish. The drawback of free will is that you must take responsibility for your actions. You have to consider the consequences of each action you take.” Gabriel had known that free will would be the most difficult part of this whole change for them to accept so had no problem throwing his endorsement behind it, but as the talk turned to more minor policy questions, Gabriel’s stock answer was simply, “Castiel has my complete support,” so they soon stopped asking and Sam and Gabriel headed back to the bunker. Cas would let them know when Raphael was found.


	17. Chapter 17

Cas had his people looking for Raphael, and Sam and Gabriel were taking some much needed down time…mostly. They sparred with each other between breakfast and lunch so they wouldn’t lose their edge, but they weren’t pushing themselves as hard anymore. It was a few days before it dawned on Sam that while they had been training to be ready to face Raphael, they had no idea what to do once they did. “We need to call Cas and get everyone together,” he told Gabriel.

“Why?”

“How are we going to keep Raphael from running again when we find him? What if he has backup? Are we going to let him have home field advantage, or lure him somewhere else?” Sam rambled until Gabriel held up a hand to stop him.

“I see your point,” Gabriel conceded as the sent a message to Cas that he should pop down when he had time. 

It was lunchtime the next day when Cas arrived, and they called everyone together, even Lisa. She had a different way of looking at things that might help. Ben was still at school not that he would have been in on this discussion anyway, but it meant that they didn’t have to hide it at least. 

Once they were all seated Gabriel turned to Sam. “Your show Samsquatch,” he said waiting for Sam to start the discussion. 

“Ok so the first thing I considered is how to keep Raphael from running away again when we get the upper hand,” Sam said looking for suggestions. 

Dean was the first to speak and turned to the angels in the room and asked, “Are there any wards that can bind him? Especially ones that will weaken him could be useful.”

Gabriel shook his head, “Anything that would weaken him would weaken me too. Not a good idea. Binding him to the location may be doable, but we would have to choose the location in advance and he would be able to see the warding before he arrived so there’s no guarantee he would show.”

Lisa asked, “Is there any kind of summoning or anything that will make him show?”

“Unfortunately not,” Cas said. 

“If he sees the wards then he would know that you couldn’t leave either though right? So why wouldn’t he just show up with an army behind him and destroy us all?” Sam asked thoughtfully. 

“What are you thinking?” Gabriel asked Sam curiously. 

“Well assuming the angels we worked with kept their mouths shut like you asked, he thinks we are alone. He would be expecting just the two of us and maybe Dean…” Sam started to say.

“So we should let him think that and let him show up with support, then have our own support standing by. We can definitely work with that idea. I don’t really like the idea of putting more angels in the line of fire though.”

“So we just prove that we have backup too, and then use that to get Raphael agree to fight us and leave everyone else out of it,” Dean said. 

“Oh no Deano. You’re sitting this one out,” Gabriel said shaking his head.

“The hell I am!”

“Dean you have Lisa and Ben to think about now, and if we lose, then you will need to be here to keep them safe and keep this place running,” Sam said reasonably. 

Dean knew that Sam was right but he didn’t have to like it. Letting his brother go into battle without him was just all kinds of wrong, but he nodded tersely anyway. “You have a good plan there though Deano. He will insist on having a second angel though since I’ll have Sam, and we’ll agree but we won’t offer. It will make it seem like we are scared and make him overconfident. We will grudgingly agree and you take out his minion quickly and then join me against him,” Gabriel suggested. 

“You think that will work brother?” Cas asked hopefully. 

“The only reason Raphael is running right now is because of me. He knows if he can take me out then he can steamroll over the rest of heaven and take over. He will jump at the chance. I’m sure of it,” Gabriel said smugly. 

“Then let’s do this,” Sam said confidently. 

“I will ready my troops. Gabriel you pick a place and start on the warding. My troops and I will stay back. Sam will pray to me when Raphael enters, and we will come down,” At everyone’s nod, Cas said, “I will let you know when we are ready.”

“Can I at least help with the warding or do I have to stay out of that too,” Dean asked petulantly. 

Sam rolled his eyes. “I don’t see why not,” he said looking questioningly at Gabriel who nodded. 

“There is some risk, but since you are warded against angels it should be relatively safe.”

They bid Lisa goodbye and Gabriel transported them to an abandoned warehouse as far away as they could get from the bunker and still be in the country. He snapped up a piece of paper and handed it to Dean along with a can of spray paint and did the same for Sam. “In all four corners at the bottom and the middle of the floor. I’ll get the top corners and the ceiling.”

Sam and Dean finished first, able to split the work and then just laughed at the sight of Gabriel laying on his back on the air humming happily as he spray painted the sigils in the ceiling. Once that was done they walked outside and down the street before Gabriel could transport them back to the bunker to wait for Cas. 

It wasn’t until the next day that Cas arrived to let them know he was ready. Gabriel and Sam had left letters for Ben in case they didn’t come back having gotten very close to the kid who now called them Uncle Sam and Uncle Gabe, said their goodbyes to Lisa and Dean and went to the warehouse, where Gabriel prayed for Raphael to come and talk to him. 

As they expected, the archangel didn’t arrive alone. He had nearly twenty angels with him, who were now trapped within the wards as well and Sam prayed for Cas who arrived with twice as many angels. “So you have set a trap for me brother. How uninspired,” Raphael sneered.

“On the contrary brother. I have no desire for any of them to fight. I propose that you fight me and my bonded,” he said the last word with emphasis to remind Raphael who Sam was to him, “and to the winner goes heaven.”

All the angels behind Cas shifted uncomfortably. Despite knowing that would be the outcome anyway, hearing it said so plainly was disconcerting. 

Raphael laughed. “Two against one is hardly fair little brother. If you will allow me a second as well, then I will accept your terms,” he said smugly. He had nearly beat them both alone, with another he would surely be victorious. Not to mention that he had underestimated them last time, but he knew what they were capable of now, and had plenty of time to plan how to use their bond against them. 

Sam and Gabriel, as planned, looked nervously at each other before shakily agreeing to Raphael’s terms. Raphael called Thaddeus forward and they squared off in the center as everyone else moved to the edges to give them room. Raphael raised an eyebrow at the fact that Sam had Gabriel’s archangel blade. Sam and Gabriel had found that they worked best with Gabriel setting it up for Sam to take the killing blow, not to mention it would give all his followers pause to see their leader killed by a human. 

Raphael and Thaddeus attacked first, the former going for Gabriel; the latter for Sam. Sam was able to dispatch the angel quickly, and arrived in the main fight just in time to deflect a blow that would have struck Gabriel’s exposed back as he was spun from a punch from his brother. It was a long drawn out fight, and Raphael was getting angry that he wasn’t able to expose the weaknesses in their bond. He was also caught off guard at how well they worked together. He didn’t remember them being so good last time and for the first time felt fear. 

The move that finished Raphael off was so simple that he wasn’t expecting it. Gabriel did a flip over Raphael’s shoulders and pushing him forward onto the blade that Sam was holding, while disarming Raphael so he couldn’t use his dying breath to kill Sam. He wasn’t quite quick enough with the disarm though as the blade sliced through most of Sam’s arm before he was able to get it. The light poured from Raphael’s eyes as he screamed and fell backwards surrounded by the ash of his wings and Gabriel healed Sam before turning to the angels that Raphael had brought. 

“You all have a choice. I have left Castiel in charge in heaven in my place and you can return under his leadership without repercussions or you can rip out your grace and fall,” he said harshly. 

They all moved across the room to stand behind Cas and Gabriel smiled and stepped towards Cas. “Thank you for your assistance brother. You know how to reach me if you need me,” Gabriel said formally, more for the benefit of the listening ears than for Cas. 

“Thank you brother, for helping to unite us again. Should you ever wish to retake your place in heaven I will gladly step aside for you,” Cas said, also for the benefit of those listening.

“I will keep that in mind little brother. In the meantime, I know that you’ll do a good job in my stead,” Gabriel said pulling Cas into a hug. He whispered in his ear, “Be good little brother and don’t hesitate to drop by sometimes.”

“I will Gabriel,” Cas said seriously. 

With so many angels working at it, the warding was removed almost immediately and they all went back to heaven save Gabriel and Sam who returned to the bunker. It was nearly ten at night when they got back and Ben was already in bed, but they found Lisa and Dean distractedly attempting to watch tv, but they were so on edge that they probably couldn’t even say what was on. 

“Well that was fun,” Gabriel drawled as they appeared. Seeing that Dean had grabbed his brother in a bonecrushing hug, Lisa did the same to Gabriel. “Is it over?” she asked. 

“It’s over,” Gabriel said evenly, both sad that he killed his brother and happy that he protected his family. “But I hope you know that you’re always welcome to stay here. We could definitely use the help,” he said sincerely. 

Gabriel and Sam had discussed it and Sam wanted Dean retired from hunting and acting as a man of letters too, especially given his new family situation and it had been working out well the last few weeks, and Ben was thriving here, having his family around. They didn’t want them to leave. 

Dean and Lisa had discussed it between them also. Lisa and Ben loved it here. Dean did too, for the most part, and he had to admit even living with Gabriel wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. While he still hoped to keep Ben away from the supernatural world he wouldn’t object too strongly if he decided to be a man of letters someday. Especially since it would keep him inside the bunker and even safer than he would be out in the world on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end though there will be a sequel posted later today. Not sure how long it will be yet though. Might just be a one-shot. I just have a little nugget rolling around in my brain for a continuation, but that's how this one started too before it got out of control lol.


End file.
